Army wants check on Hyderabad Rohingyas

HYDERABAD: Defence and military officials who have their institutions in the city have expressed concerns over the presence of Rohingyas especially around the defence institutions that are considered to be high security zones. About 4,000 Rohingyas refugees stay in the city with a sizeable number residing in the Hafeezbabanagar and Balapur areas bordering the commissionerates of Hyderabad and Rachakonda.

A high-level meeting chaired by the top officials of the state police, the armed forces, defence institutions and counter-terror agencies belonging to the state a the Centre held recently, discussed the presence of Rohingyas in the city.
The officials also discussed the terror cases registered against Rohingyas who had obtained Indian identity documents, and a couple of arrests made in such cases.

Defence laboratories, among others, are located around Kanchanbagh near Hafeezbabanagar. “Officials are apprehensive over the presence of a couple of thousand Rohingyas refugees in the area. They want the police to increase security in the area. Defence establishments too have enhanced their internal security measures and installed advanced closed circuit cameras,” said an official. 

The officials also discussed about the security at the Secunderabad Cantonment and army establishments at Mehdipatnam, Secunderabad and Golconda.  The role of the state police and the defence ministry and the Army in handling any emergency was also discussed. The city has no specific threat from terror groups. Such convergence meetings are held for better coordination between various agencies of the Union home and defence ministries and the state police, an official said.