Reigning the Foreigners

Pune Police Issue Notices to College Authorities

After having a field day in the city, the foreign students in Pune are facing the heat. The foreigners registration branch of Pune police has turned its focus on the foreign students residing in Pune.

The Foreigners' Registration Office (FRO) has issued notices to college authorities in city to provide information about foreign students. The notices have been issued to keep a check on the activities of foreign students.

There are 23,432 foreign nationals registered in Pune, of which 14,800 are students. The issue has assumed importance in view of the heightened security measures in the country as well as the city. Even today, there was a bomb hoax call in the Fergusson College and Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple.

This is the second step of the measures against the foreign students in Pune. The Pune police had issued notices to more than 100 students in the month of December. The notice was given because the students were living in the city without permission.

Interestingly, I had given a story of how the number of foreign students is dwindling in the city and those of others is increasing. The reason attributed are large numbers of companies in Pune which employ foreigners. In the past, the city had overseas visitors mainly because of Osho Ashram in Koregaon Park area. But it is thing of the past now. While the persons in IT and other industries come mostly from European countries, those from Sudan, Nigeria and other African countries constitute the students.