In the first seven days since holding centres were set up in West Bengal, the state administration has so far detained nearly 400 alleged “Bangladeshis,” and the process of sending them to Bangladesh is under way, according to a report by the Indian newspaper The Indian Express.
According to the West Bengal state administration, the most detentions — 335 alleged illegal immigrants — have been made in the Basirhat police district. They are being held at flood relief centres in Tentulghati, Patharshanti, Charghat and Subhash Nagar.
Besides Basirhat, alleged Bangladeshi immigrants have been detained in Malda, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur districts. Detainees are also reportedly being held in the Baruipur, Barasat, Cooch Behar, Jangipur, Krishnanagar and Bongaon police districts.
The state administration has further tightened security and surveillance at the holding centres. Sources said the district administrations concerned have been instructed to complete the detention and repatriation process quickly and smoothly, with round-the-clock surveillance and additional police deployed.
Among the alleged immigrants are four workers employed in Kerala who reached the Hakimpur border post on May 26 and were sent to a detention centre in North 24 Parganas district.
Speaking by phone, one of the four, Motaleb Hossain, said: “Our biometric data was taken yesterday. They collected our fingerprints and other information. BSF officials also questioned us — how we entered India, where we worked and where we stayed. We told them everything.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report