Intensifying action against illegal immigration in the country, the authorities have been tracking infiltrators including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas across the states and detaining them for deportation. Last month Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed authorities to speed up their operations against the entire network assisting Bangladeshi and Rohingya illegal immigrants in entering and staying in the country through forged documents.
The authorities have nabbed hundreds of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas across the country over the last three months for illegally entering and residing in the country.
Delhi
In the first week of January, the Delhi Police nabbed eight Bangladeshi nationals in two separate actions for illegally staying in the country. On 3rd January 2025, five Bangladeshi nationals were caught by the Delhi police. They have been living in the country since 2012.
On 4th January 2025, the Delhi Police detained five Bangladeshi nationals during a verification drive from the South West District for overstaying their visa.
In the latest action against infiltrators on Tuesday (11th March), the Delhi Police arrested five Bangladeshi nationals from different areas of the city during a verification drive. The Bangladeshis had been illegally staying in the country by forging documents.
Delhi Police have been conducting verification drives across the national capital after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena directed the police in January this year to launch an operation to track down Bangladeshi nationals illegally staying in the city. Many such illegal immigrants living in the national capital have been found linked to serious criminal activities in the area.
Gujarat
In February this year, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested and deported 15 Bangladeshi nationals. They were found involved in the trafficking of minor girls for prostitution.
Maharashtra
On 10th March 2025, a Bangladeshi national was convicted by a sessions court in Thane, Maharashtra for illegally entering and residing in the country. He was found guilty under section 14 of the Foreigners Act, of 1946. During an inquiry, he admitted that he was a Bangladeshi national and that he entered India illegally by paying ₹20,000 to an agent.
Earlier this month on 8th March, four Bangladeshi women were arrested from a hotel in Nashik, Maharashtra. The women did not possess any documents as to where they were from and how they entered India. About a month before that, on 6th February, 8 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested by the police from a construction site in the Adgaon area in Nashik for illegally staying and working in the country. Some of them were found carrying forged Aadhar cards.
On 8th February, the Mumbai Police arrested 16 Bangladeshi nationals from the Thane region. The arrested illegal Bangladeshi individuals included seven men and nine women. A team led by DCP Dr Pravin Mundhe (Zone 1) conducted a crackdown operation against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and the Thane area. This came a day after Mumbai’s RCF police arrested 7 Bangladeshi immigrants from Mumbai’s Chembur area.
In a significant step to put a curb on illegal immigrants taking benefits of government schemes in the state, the Maharashtra government has introduced stringent rules for birth and death registration. State Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced amendments to the Birth and Death Registration Act this month, making police verification mandatory for issuing birth and death certificates.
Odisha
On 9th March 2025, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi informed the state assembly that 3738 Bangladeshi infiltrators have been identified in Odisha so far. The CM provided the data in response to a question raised by MLA Manas Datta. Out of these 3738 Bangladeshi infiltrators, 199 have been residing in Bhdrak, 1649 in Kendrapara, 17 in Bhubaneswar, 1112 in Jagatsinghpur, 655 in Malkangiri and 106 in Nabrangpur.
The state government said that it has been coordinating with the central government for the identification and deportation of the Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Rajasthan
In January this year, the BJP government in Rajasthan took major action against Bangladeshis and Rohingyas staying illegally in Rajasthan. On 27th January, the Jaipur Police detained 500 illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. 394 out of the total detainees were identified as Rohingyas while the rest 106 were Bangladeshis.
Karnataka
Responding to a question on illegal immigration in the state, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara presented some numbers in the state assembly. He said that authorities have identified 137 illegal immigrants in the state. 25 of them are Pakistani nationals while the rest are Bangladeshi nationals. He added that the authorities have been constantly monitoring their movements and will arrest them.
Kerala
On 31st January 2025, the Kerala Police detained 27 Bangladeshi nationals who had been illegally staying and working in Kochi, Kerala. The Bangladeshi nationals were nabbed under ‘Operation Clean’ carried out by a joint team of Anti-Terrorism Squad and Ernakulam Police. Many of the arrestees had forged Aadhar cards.
Earlier in January, about 7 Bangladeshi infiltrators were nabbed in Kerala making the total count of illegal immigrants arrested in the State 34.
Tamil Nadu
In January 2025, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested 31 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from rural areas in the Tiruppur and the Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu. The infiltrators were apprehended during raids conducted by 5 ATS teams based on specific intelligence. They were staying and working in Tiruppur’s knitting units for several months. They are said to have entered India through West Bengal.
West Bengal
In January 2025, the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested three Rohingya Muslims from Sealdah station in Kolkata for illegally entering and staying in the country. One Abdul Rehman and two minor girls were detained by the GRP on 18th January. The illegal immigrants were residents of the Bhusidom area in Myanmar and were planning to travel to Kashmir.
In the same month, two Rohingyas were arrested from the Krishnagang area in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
