Hundreds try to flee to Bangladesh as West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari says quit India

SWARUPNAGAR/KOLKATA: Hundreds of Bangladeshis without the documents required to stay in India made a bee-line for the Bithari-Hakimpur border exit in Bengal's North 24 Parganas on Tuesday, seeking to return home amid an administrative flurry to implement the new BJP govt's "detect-delete-deport" strategy for illegal immigrants.

CM Suvendu Adhikari told all suspected infiltrators to leave or face action. "Jaldi jaldi bhago nahi toh jo karna hai sarkar karega (Run as quickly as possible or govt will do what it needs to)," he said after a meeting in Kalyani, also directing officials to expedite the process of repatriating the detainees.



Queues at the border reminiscent of the post-SIR scramble came a day after the first two "holding centres" for detained or imprisoned illegal immigrants opening in Malda and Murshidabad. As droves of Bangladeshis - men, women and children - converged on the border near Swarupnagar, BSF sentries detained them in preparation for the formality of handing them over to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Also read: 'Holding centres' for illegal immigrants in West Bengal districts

Taklima Khatun, a native of Khulna, said she entered India through the Ghojadanga border two years ago and worked as a domestic help. "I don't want to end up in a holding centre or be pushed back. So, I am willingly returning home," she said.

Most of the returnees were employed at construction sites, hotels, fisheries and households across Kolkata. Shahidul Gazi of Satkhira said he entered India three years ago through the Swarupnagar border with the help of a middleman. He worked as a mason. "I have no citizenship documents. Like hundreds of others, I am being forced to leave," he said. Mohammad Ali Sheikh from Jessore said he lived in Kolkata's Metiabruz for around seven years and worked in a hotel. "After the new govt directive (to set up holding centres), I decided to return to Bangladesh," he said.

The first two holding centres were set up within 48 hours of a govt circular to all district magistrates to arrange facilities to house illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. By Monday evening, 12 suspected Bangladeshis intercepted in Malda and Murshidabad were moved there. Adhikari said there was no need to send illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators to court. "We have provisions in the law that allow police to directly hand them over to BSF. In accordance with an agreem-ent between India and Bangladesh, BSF will establish whether they are Bangladeshi and hand them over to authorities on the other said," he said.

Adhikari said it didn't make sense to keep illegal immigrants in jails, providing them food, clothing and medicine. "The law to deport them always existed but some people did not use it because of political interest. We are implementing the law in the interest of the country and the state," he said.

A BSF officer said once infiltrators are detained, their identities and backgrounds are verified through questioning. Fingerprints are collected and photographs taken before BSF contacts BGB for repatriation.

Also read: Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari warns illegal Bangladeshis, seeks fast deportation