In a sweeping crackdown against illegal immigration, the Gujarat Police have detained hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals over the past week, alleging unauthorised entry and forged documents. Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi on Sunday stated that most of the individuals had entered the state from various districts of West Bengal.
Addressing the media, Sanghavi said, “The government documents that most of them (infiltrators) have are mainly from the different districts of West Bengal. We are in contact with the West Bengal police, and we are reaching out to the respective district administration, and our teams are also there.”
He added that in the past two days, many of the Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended from the Howrah Express train originating from West Bengal. “For two days, Bangladeshi infiltrators were nabbed from the Howrah Express that comes from West Bengal. We also caught those who were trying to return to West Bengal,” he said, as per news agency ANI.
According to Sanghavi, the detainees were in possession of Bangladeshi identification documents, and many had admitted to being citizens of Bangladesh. “We have also recovered Bangladeshi ID cards from them. They also have accepted that they are residents of Bangladesh. Some of them conveyed the way they chose to infiltrate — some went to other states first, then came to Gujarat, some have directly come to Gujarat from Bengal,” he elaborated.
Calling on other states to step up efforts against infiltration, Sanghavi asserted, “It is the responsibility of the state governments to obey the decisions taken in the national interest. The Modi government has always taken concrete steps on the issue of infiltrators. All the state governments should work on this seriously.”
550+ Bangladeshis Detained In Surat And Ahmedabad
According to a report by ANI, on April 26, the Surat Police detained several individuals suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals and initiated a process of document verification. Surat Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Raghavendra Vats, stated, “The people caught last night are Bangladeshis. We will check their documents. After this, we plan to send them to Bangladesh.”
An overnight combing operation in Surat, jointly conducted by the Special Operations Group (SOG), Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB), and local police, led to the detention of over 100 Bangladeshi nationals. “They had entered India illegally and were living in Surat with forged documents. After the investigation, they will be deported to Bangladesh,” said Rajdeep Singh Nakum, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Operations Group.
Simultaneously, a large-scale operation was conducted in Ahmedabad around 3 am on Saturday. Teams from the Crime Branch, SOG, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Zone 6, and the Headquarters detained over 450 individuals suspected to be illegal immigrants. DCP, Crime Branch, Ajit Rajian confirmed, “More than 400 people were taken into custody during the early morning sweep.”
Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, Sharad Singhal, noted that the action was undertaken following instructions from the Home Minister, the Commissioner of Police, and the Director General of Police. “HM, CP and DGP had directed us that illegal immigrants must be held. The Crime Branch has registered two FIRs from April 2024 to date. 127 illegal Bangladeshis were caught and 77 were deported,” he said.
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