NEW DELHI: Actual figures of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are a political hot potato. But, official data revealed a disturbing trend, where over 58,000 Bangladeshi citizens came to India and became traceless in the past three years. Bangladeshis were also found to be the worst offenders among foreigners as far as overstaying in India was concerned. Data, shared by the government in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, showed that as many as 82,585 Bangladeshis did not voluntarily return to their country between January 2009, and December 2011.

Though they all had visited India using their valid travel documents, they chose not to go back. Alarmed over their overstay, the government machineries did swing into action. But, only 23,653 out of total 82,585 Bangladeshi citizens could be traced and deported, leaving the whereabouts of 58,932 of them unknown.

The figure assumes significance amid debate over status of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the backdrop of the recent violence in Assam , where 77 people were killed in ethnic clashes between Bodo tribals and Muslims . In a written response to a Parliament question, the home ministry disclosed that 21,274 Bangladeshi nationals did not return to their country last year as compared to 28,667 in 2010 and 32,644 in 2009. Deportation figures revealed that 6,761 were sent back in 2011 as against 6,290 in 2010 and 10,602 in 2009.

