Crackdown on illegal Rohingyas, electricity, water supply snapped

The administration in Jammu has started a crackdown against property owners who have provided accommodation to "undocumented" Rohingyas on their plots and homes. Water and power connections of many such property owners were on Friday disconnected and the latter have been told to vacate their properties within a month.

The action taken by teams of the police and officials of the departments concerned after the administration issued orders to snap the facility to 409 Rohingya families in the Channi Himmat, Sunjuwan and Narwal areas of Jammu.

The action was taken after a tenant verification drive was carried out by the police in Jammu region in the wake of rising terror attacks on security establishments and locals.

A senior administrative official said the drive was continuing for the past two weeks. He said 14 plot owners were on Friday asked to vacate their land where multiple families of Rohingyas were staying. Some families were also staying in houses in the listed areas.

The number of Rohingyas has swelled in Jammu city and there have been cases where these refugees who have come from Myanmar were involved in incidents of crimes. Many locals have also questioned as to why these refugees were heading towards Jammu region that is thousands of kilometres from Myanmar.

Under the tenant verification drive against illegal immigrants, the Jammu police booked five landlords last month. The police said a thorough investigation was initiated and five cases were filed at Nowabad police station. There are over 6,000 Rohingyas in Jammu district alone. The sources said there were some groups who were facilitating and settling these refugees in other areas, including Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch and Rajouri.