Gujarat police teams dispatched to Bengal, Northeast for ID verification of suspected illegal immigrants
The Gujarat Police has dispatched teams to West Bengal and some north-eastern states to conduct a physical verification of suspected to illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who were detained in the state since early Saturday, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
The police department is also faced with the task of making temporary arrangements for confinement of confirmed illegal immigrants from the neighbouring country as the two Joint Interrogation Centres (JICs) in Ahmedabad and Kutch — the detention facilities for apprehended foreigners — are filled to their capacity.
Senior officers confirmed that the police teams have been sent to West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, which serve as transit points for illegal migration from Bangladesh to India. A senior official said that the teams have been sent for 'verification of documents' as some of the documents provided by the people, suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals, are carrying documents, which have faraway areas of West Bengal and the northeastern states as their addresses. The police suspect that those IDs could be 'fake' and might have been procured through a network facilitating the illegal immigration.
'The teams will conduct a physical verification of documents such as Aaadhar, voting cards, bank documents and other such ID proofs produced by them. Mobile phone data of the suspects, including details of their Bangladeshi contacts, and bank details are also being probed… we are also ascertaining whether their stay in Gujarat was facilitated by any agency for cheaper labour…'
Among the questions facing the agencies that have now detained over 1,500 people across the state, is the confinement of the confirmed illegal immigrants, until they are deported. A senior Gujarat police officer said, 'The two detention centres (JICs) at Ahmedabad and Kutch, which have a capacity of about 100 and 70, respectively, are already overcrowded… The respective city police will have to make temporary arrangements locally to confine the illegal immigrants until the deportation is complete.'
In Vadodara, Police Commissioner Narasimha Komar said that over 1300 suspected Bangladeshi nationals have been rounded up since Saturday — eight of them were confirmed as illegal immigrants. Komar also said that 41 others are suspected to be illegal immigrants, and a verification of their documents is underway.
Komar told The Indian Express, 'Since Saturday, we have identified a total of eight Bangladeshi nationals who had been residing illegally in Vadodara. A probe is underway. Meanwhile, the Special Branch, which deals with registration of foreign nationals, has begun the process of deportation of the confirmed illegal immigrants… The necessary correspondence will be made with the government to expedite the process…'
Komar said that the Vadodara city police already have five Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in its confinement since March last year, awaiting deportation. Komar said, 'Since the JICs are full, we will make temporary arrangements for the illegal immigrants. They are not under arrest during this period but under confinement at a regulated place… We have had five Bangladeshi nationals in confinement since March 2024 on the premises of the Special Operations Group in Vadodara. We are awaiting slots to be confirmed by the Border Security Force to execute the deportation of such immigrants.'
Komar said that while the regular process of deportation can be time-consuming, the current drive against illegal immigrants, being a 'special drive', would see an expedited process. 'We believe that the government will expedite the deportation process for those illegal immigrants, who have been found since the commencement of the drive (on Saturday)…' Komar said.
Till Sunday, the Gujarat police had detained close to 1,024 and rounded up close to 1,300 suspected Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. While 890 were detained in Ahmedabad, 134 were held in Surat. In Vadodara and Rajkot, 1300 and 800 persons have been rounded up, respectively. Of the 890 people detained in Ahmedabad, 100 have been confirmed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, while it has been confirmed that Rajkot had 10 Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in the city.
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