Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has directed state agencies to implement a “Detect, Delete and Deport” framework aimed at identifying people deemed to be living illegally in the state, removing them from official records and sending them back through border channels. The policy follows a campaign in which ruling party leaders repeatedly described undocumented Bangladeshis as “infiltrators”, “termites” and a “burden”, framing cross-border migration as a threat to welfare delivery, public order and electoral integrity.
The shift has been felt most visibly in border districts such as North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Malda, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar, where police, railway authorities and border personnel have stepped up checks at transit points, labour clusters and settlements close to the international boundary. Holding centres have been opened or proposed for suspected undocumented migrants pending nationality verification and deportation, while district administrations have been asked to report enforcement action at regular intervals.
Adhikari has said people not covered by citizenship protections should be handed over to the Border Security Force rather than allowed to disappear into prolonged legal processes. His government has also linked the drive to the Citizenship Act framework, under which certain non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan may qualify for citizenship if they meet entry and documentary conditions. The distinction has sharpened political debate because Muslim migrants do not benefit from the same statutory pathway.
The border crackdown is unfolding along one of the most complex frontiers in South Asia. West Bengal shares about 2,217 km of the 4,096.7 km India-Bangladesh border, much of it running through rivers, farms, villages and densely populated belts where families, trade and seasonal movement have long crossed administrative lines. More than 1,647 km of the West Bengal stretch has fencing, leaving substantial gaps where terrain, land acquisition, habitations near the zero line and local resistance have delayed work.
The new administration has moved to accelerate land transfer for fencing and border outposts, with work beginning in parts of the Siliguri subdivision and additional land being handed over for security infrastructure. Officials argue that closing gaps will reduce illegal crossings, trafficking, cattle smuggling and document fraud. Critics say fencing alone cannot resolve a migration problem shaped by poverty, climate vulnerability, informal labour demand and long-standing social ties on both sides of the frontier.
Bangladesh has resisted any unilateral pushback of people without formal verification of nationality. Border Guard Bangladesh has increased vigilance in several districts after reporting attempts to move groups across the frontier. Dhaka’s position is that repatriation must follow established procedures, with documentary proof and government-to-government coordination. That stance has created friction at crossing points when groups identified by authorities on one side are not accepted by the other.
The humanitarian dimension is also becoming more pronounced. Rights groups and legal activists have warned that poor Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrant labourers and people with incomplete papers may be vulnerable to wrongful detention or expulsion. They argue that citizenship and nationality cannot be determined through language, religion, accent or place of work, and that any deportation process must include notice, legal access, appeal rights and consular verification.
The state government maintains that the drive is aimed only at illegal entrants and not at lawful residents or citizens. Officials say the deletion stage refers to removing names of foreign nationals from welfare, ration, voter and identity-linked databases where fraudulent inclusion is detected. That claim has not ended concern among opposition parties, which accuse the government of using immigration enforcement to reshape voter rolls and consolidate support in communally sensitive districts.
The Trinamool Congress, now in opposition after losing power, has challenged the ruling party’s approach, accusing it of stoking fear in border communities and undermining due process. The Bharatiya Janata Party has countered that the previous administration allowed illegal migration to become politically useful, straining public services and changing the demographic balance of several constituencies.
