Mumbai, Oct. 25 -- The state food and civil supplies department on Friday directed its field officers to identify illegal Bangladeshi immigrants availing benefits of government schemes and submit action taken reports to the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS). "The police department has been repeatedly asking for details about illegal Bangladeshis availing ration and other benefits from government schemes. Accordingly, directives have been issued to all field offices," said a senior official of the food and civil supplies department, requesting anonymity. Action taken reports would have to be submitted to the ATS on a quarterly basis, the official noted. The government resolution (GR) issued by the department said the number of Bangladeshi nationals migrating illegally to India and Maharashtra for employment was rising due to economic strife in the neighbouring country. Such immigrants obtained or forged various government documents and certificates and used these to avail benefits from the state's welfare programs, which led to unnecessary expenses and threatened national security, the GR said. The state government had, on June 29, 2013, issued a directive mentioning precautions to be taken during verification of documents, to prevent the misuse of government schemes and ensure public safety and welfare. The GR referred to the directive, saying a meeting was convened by the ATS on June 9, 2025, wherein field officers of the food and civil supplies department were told to implement it. The meeting was addressed by senior ATS officers and attended by officials from the food and civil supplies, home and other government departments, sources told HT. The GR said field offices must hold internal review and prepare a blacklist of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to ensure they do not receive any benefits from government schemes. They must also find out if those in the list of 1,274 alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants provided by the ATS had obtained any government documents. If such documents had been obtained, officials must take immediate action to cancel, suspend, or deactivate them as per rules, and send a copy of the related order to the ATS for their records....