Gujarat: Crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants; over 1,000 face deportation
The operation comes a day after MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi said the state is being put on high alert in view of the Pahalgam terror attack and additional forces are being deployed
In a major crackdown against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, the Gujarat police on Saturday (April 26) arrested 1,024 people from Ahmedabad and Surat, the state’s two major cities.
The operation began at 3 am in both places under the respective city police commissioners, leading to the detention of 890 people in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat. “The Ahmedabad Crime Branch along with teams of the Special Operation Group (SOG), Economic Offence Wing (EOW), and Ahmedabad Zone 6 police launched an operation to apprehend illegal immigrants around 3 am. During this operation, 890 illegal immigrants were arrested. Most of the people were picked up from Chandola Lake area of Ahmedabad City,” Rajdeep Singh Nukum, the Deputy Police Commissioner of SOG told The Federal.
Biggest operation yet
The detainees, most of them men, were first held at Kankaria Football Ground in Ahmedabad before being paraded through the city for about 3 km to the Gaikwad Haveli, the headquarters of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch while being recorded by drone cameras. Later, the Gujarat police circulated the drone recording of those detained on its social media handles. However, the women were allowed to stay back at their residences under heavy police deployment. Also read: Gujarat: Muslim cattle trader charred to death, family alleges attack by cow vigilantes
Following the operation, a meeting of top state police officials was conducted via video conference with Gujarat DGP Vikas Sahay joining from Ahmedabad while MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi joined from Surat.
Speaking after the meeting, Sanghavi said, “Ahmedabad police have detained 890 illegal Bangladeshis and Surat police have detained 134. This is the biggest operation of the Gujarat police to date in which illegal immigrants have been detained in such large numbers. This is a message to all illegal Bangladeshis to surrender or face repercussions in the future.”
Surgical strike, says DGP
“These Bangladeshis come through West Bengal illegally, often with fake documents, and live in Gujarat and other states of India. Many of them have criminal backgrounds and are found to be part of drug cartels, human trafficking etc. We all have seen in the past how two Bangladeshis were caught while working for Al-Qaida,” added Sanghavi who was present during the operation in Surat, his hometown. “This is a part of the measures being taken to ensure our state is safe from terrorists and jihadis,” he added.
DGP Sahay termed it a “historic surgical strike on illegal immigrants and illegal encroachments”.
“The process of deportation takes time as the identity of the suspected Bangladeshi nationals will have to be established based on evidence. We need to have documentary evidence, human intelligence and other inputs to establish their citizenship. Subsequently, the deportation process may begin under the Ministry of External Affairs with the help of BSF,” said Sahay.
Police targeting Muslims?
Meanwhile, the Gujarat police move has created a massive hue and cry among the minority communities in the state.
“The police have been picking up Muslims indiscriminately since morning. Almost all those detained from the Chandola area have proper documents and are Indian citizens who have been living here for generations. They were arrested, paraded and are now being asked to prove their citizenship. This is outrageous and illegal,” said Advocate Shamshad Pathan.
Notably, the operation comes a day after Sanghavi declared that the state is being put on high alert in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and additional forces are being deployed in several districts of North Gujarat that either share international border with Pakistan or are close to the LoC.
Illegal immigrants under lens
Significantly, the Gujarat police have been conducting similar operations for the past year where Muslims have been picked from across the state on the ground of being “illegal immigrants”. The state government has also been carrying out anti-encroachment drives across the state since 2023. Also read: Gujarat teen bride suicide puts spotlight back on rampant child marriages
“Dada nu bulldozer aveche (Big brother’s bulldozer is coming),” Sanghavi had said referring to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s announcement last year where he had stated that the government will take steps to make Gujarat free of illegal encroachment.
Since then the government has demolished thousands of homes, mostly belonging to Muslims, across the state along with mazars and even a couple of ancient dargahs in the Dwarka district protected under the Archeological Act of India.
