Identifying illegal immigrants: Gurugram Police on claims of detaining Bangla-speaking workers

Gurugram: Amid the allegation of Bengali-speaking migrant workers being detained, Gurugram Police on Thursday asserted their ongoing drive was to identify illegal immigrants, and the suspects were being kept in "holding areas" till the verification process is completed.

A senior police official said a verification process was being conducted to identify illegal immigrants and dismissed some reports that migrant workers from West Bengal were being targeted and detained.

During this drive, police have identified eight illegal immigrants suspected to be from Bangladesh, and some more verifications were being done, he said.

"We are following the Centre's guidelines on suspected illegal immigrants. We are not detaining them, but they are being kept in 'holding areas' till the verification process is completed, and, accordingly, we are letting them go.

"The only purpose of keeping them in the holding area is so that any illegal immigrant may not escape," DCP (Headquarters), Gurugram, Arpit Jain told PTI over the phone on Thursday.

The police officer, however, did not clarify what he meant by holding area; instead, he said that four holding areas have been created under as many police zones in Gurugram.

He said that Gurugram Police keeps conducting drives throughout the year to identify illegal immigrants. Those found overstaying, illegally staying, or not having valid documents are deported, the DCP said.

About the current drive, Jain said that details of every suspected person were being sent to the district magistrate or the deputy commissioner in the state concerned for verification.

"When we receive a report from there, we take further action based on what it says," he said.