Bengaluru: The number of criminal assault incidents involving foreign students including those in which the police are attacked, is on the increase in the garden city. According to the data available with State crime record bureau, more than 50 such cases were registered in last three years in the city alone. Interestingly, most of the offenders are from African countries, especially from Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Chad and other nations. In most of the incidents reported, the attackers were inebriated, and picked up quarrels with the police, especially while they were out checking for ‘driving under the influence’.

Citing increasing incidents of police officers being attacked on duty, the department sent notices to all the colleges to furnish details about foreign students in their respective colleges and also urged the management to persuade their students to abide by the law of the land, but it has yielded minimal results so far.

According to the data available with Association of African Students, Bengaluru, there are about 2,000 students are in the city, the majority of whom are from Nigeria and Kenya.

A senior police officer said, on condition of anonymity, “most of the students from African countries are from rich families and they lead a ‘frenzied’ life style which they can’t do back home. Shockingly, many students are running unauthorized businesses in the city unchecked”. Indeed, among the many unauthorized businesses that these students pursue, is drug trafficking. More than 25 people were arrested on charges of possessing and distributing drugs like brown sugar, etc. In fact, some of them even fail their college examinations to stay in the country for a longer period he added.

There is human dimension to their stay too. Many of these students get admission in city colleges, or even other cities, to get their ailing parents treated in the country. But it’s not all innocently done. According to another police officer, Nagaraja Kottur, there is a mafia at play which coordinates between colleges, private hospitals and the students. This racket has mushroomed as, according to sources, the state and central governments provide financial assistance to the sick parents of foreign students studying here for their medical treatment. Such students cut short their studies and depart to their homelands along with their parents as soon as they are done with the treatment. Apparently this is a common phenomenon in all the metros of India.

While the criminality of the attacks or activities in which these foreign students are involved is undisputed, using the law to pursue these law breakers creates an altogether different problem for the police due to the possibility of them being accused of racism, language barriers and the international ramifications of any action that they may take. So most cases are handled with kid gloves, and the criminals do often get their way or get away