Over 16,000 Bengali speakers screened in Delhi to identify illegal Bangladeshis

The Delhi Police has screened over 16,000 Bengali speakers since December 2024 to identify “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants, said a senior official. 

The crackdown on the community began in Delhi after Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s office issued an order to the police, in the aftermath of the regime change in Bangladesh, to identify foreign nationals “illegally” staying in the capital.

The police sent multiple teams to labour chowks, informal housing clusters of migrant workers and transit hubs to conduct verification drives of the Bengali speakers inhabiting those locations. 

“During screening process, the suspects documents were thoroughly checked and their credentials verified with the home states they said they were from,” said the officer. 

According to the officer, after they were found to be illegal immigrations they were handed over to FRRO for deportation.