Karnataka’s Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that the process of collecting information on immigrants in the state had begun and the National Register of Citizens would be implemented after discussions with the Centre, Hindustan Times reported.

“We are one of the states where people across the border have come and settled down,” he said. “Some of them have even been involved in criminal activities, this has come to our notice. We will soon take a decision on this, we will take a decision this week.”

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Bommai made the remarks a day after he claimed that the state already had conducted two meetings on the matter.

The final NRC list in Assam was published on August 31. The list, which is an exercise to establish bonafide citizens, excluded more than 19 lakh people, who will now face the quasi-judicial foreigners’ tribunals. In the absence of deportation, people declared foreigners by the tribunals would be sent to detention centres.

In July, the central government had told the Lok Sabha that a detention centre would be set up in Bengaluru, according to Deccan Herald.

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Meanwhile, Opposition parties in Karnataka said the state administration should redirect focus on helping those affected due to floods in the state. “Let the home minister of Karnataka first concentrate on flood victims. NRC is a national issue that needs a lot of deliberation,” Janata Dal (Secular) Spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed told India Today. He also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in “rhetorical statements” and for failing to bring about development in the state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly claimed that the NRC exercise would be implemented across the country. BJP leaders from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Haryana have also called for the exercise to be implemented in all the states.

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