India, April 26 -- The Karnataka government has started the process of identifying Pakistani nationals who are illegally residing in the state, and inform the Union home ministry about it, state home minister G Parameshwara said on Friday.

"The central government has instructed Pakistani nationals to leave India following the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. Action will be taken against Pakistani nationals if they are illegally residing in the state. The work of detecting sleeper cells is also underway. If sleeper cells are found, we will inform the NIA (National Investigation Agency)," he said.

The development took place after Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday called up the chief ministers of states and as...