The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has opened a counter in Aurangabad for people to give information about ‘infiltrators’ and those whose tip-offs prove correct would be given a reward of ₹5,000, a functionary of the Raj Thackeray-led party said on Friday.
The MNS has started one counter in Akashwani area, manned by party workers, and five more are in the pipeline, MNS Aurangabad unit president Sumit Khambekar said.
“People can give information on infiltrators staying here and we will forward it to the police. If the police verification finds the information to be correct, we will give the person who gave us the tip-off a reward of ₹5,000,” said Mr. Khambekar.
When contacted, Aurangabad police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad refused to comment saying the news (of MNS setting up ‘infiltrator information’ counter) was being verified.
The MNS’ move comes after Mr. Thackeray, in a rally in Mumbai on February 9, signalled a turn towards hardline Hindutva by claiming his party would work towards evicting illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants staying in Maharashtra.
In his speech, Mr. Thackeray appealed to the Central government to give a “free hand to the police for 48 hours to evict infiltrators from Mumbai, as it is useless to ask the state government“.
“The issue of infiltrators is as important as that of drinking water, education and health. Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators should be thrown out of the country, and there shouldn’t be any compromise on the issue,” he had told the gathering.
