West Bengal orders 'detention centres' in all districts for 'Bangladeshi infiltrators'

The West Bengal government has directed all districts in the state to set up 'holding centres' for temporarily detaining Bangladeshi nationals or Rohingyas suspected of being infiltrators. A special directive was sent from the state's administrative headquarters Nabanna to district administrations on Sunday, May 24, according to a report by Indian media Anandabazar Patrika.

According to the directive, anyone suspected of not being an Indian citizen can be arrested and detained in these holding centres for up to 30 days. In addition to newly detained suspected infiltrators, those who were previously convicted for illegal residence and are awaiting deportation will also be held in these centres.

After a major political change in West Bengal, new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act shortly after taking office. This administrative step comes amid political announcements to identify and deport those outside the purview of the CAA through the Border Security Force.

Recently, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told journalists that the central government had already issued directives to identify and deport infiltrators, but the previous state government did not comply. The current government is strictly enforcing the relevant laws.

The directive stated that these centres will be used to hold illegal infiltrators and foreign prisoners released from jails in the state. The directive has been sent to the state police chief, district magistrates, superintendents of police in all districts, and all police commissioners in Kolkata.

The state government is following a policy of 'Detect, Delete and Deport' for illegal migrants. Biometric data of those identified as infiltrators at the centres will be collected and uploaded to a central portal, and they will be permanently blacklisted in India before being deported through the BSF.