A police drive to identify illegal immigrants in Gurugram has left many Bengali-speaking labourers in fear, with allegations emerging of targeted action against people from West Bengal and Assam.

Anju Khatun, from West Bengal, was distressed as she recalled searching for her husband earlier this week at one of the holding centres set up by Gurugram Police. “My husband had gone to clean cars at a residential society in Sector 56 on Monday when the police took him with them. It was in the late evening that I got to know that he was in a holding centre,” said Khatun, a resident of a slum in Sector 56.

“It was only after I reached the centre with our Aadhaar cards and other documents that the police released my husband. We are from West Bengal and have been staying in Gurugram for the past five years,” she added.

The drive, ongoing for over a week, has reportedly seen over 250 individuals detained for document verification. Police maintain the operation is aimed at identifying illegal immigrants.

“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,” said Arpit Jain, DCP (Headquarters), Gurugram. “The only purpose of keeping them in the holding area is so that any illegal immigrant may not escape.”

Jain emphasised that the campaign is routine: “Gurugram Police keeps conducting drives throughout the year to identify illegal immigrants. Those found overstaying, illegally staying, or not having valid documents are deported.”

Many sanitation workers, most of them Bengali-speaking—have reportedly stopped working out of fear, leading to a noticeable pile-up of garbage across Gurugram.

“Speaking Bengali does not make one a Bangladeshi. These individuals are as much citizens of India as anyone else, regardless of what language they speak,” said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in a post on X. She condemned the targeting of Bengali speakers across BJP-ruled states, citing a “worrying trend.”

“There are over 1.5 crore migrant workers in Bengal who are earning their livelihood with dignity. We cannot say the same for the BJP-ruled states, where Bengali-speaking people are being branded as infiltrators,” Banerjee added.

Referring to conditions at Delhi’s Jai Hind Camp—home to many labourers from West Bengal—Banerjee accused authorities of harassment. “I have heard on the instructions of the BJP government, water supply to the colony has been stopped. Few days back the electric meters installed at the homes were removed. The residents complained they had pooled money to get private water tanker but the Delhi Police and its Rapid Action Force have stopped it. At this moment a forced eviction is on. If right to housing, electricity and water are trampled, how can we call ourselves a democratic republic?” she said.

On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress leaders in Cooch Behar claimed that eight workers from West Bengal had been detained at the Badshahpur police station in Gurugram on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. “They are from Cooch Behar and Murshidabad districts and have been working in different locations for months. They have been detained by the Haryana police... This is unacceptable,” said Partha Pratim Roy, spokesperson for Trinamool in Cooch Behar.

Police sources confirmed that more than 20 people from Assam’s Dhubri district were also held at the Sector-10 community centre for five days before being released. One of them, Jahanur Islam, who has been working as a garbage collector in Gurugram for a decade, said, “We were not told why we were being held. All those nabbed collect garbage from houses around Kankarola and Panchgaon villages.”

According to Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar, four holding centres have been established at community centres in Badshahpur, Sector 10A, Sector 40, and Sector 1 in Manesar. “Under the guidelines of the Home Ministry, four holding centres have been created. All basic necessities, including medical facilities, are being provided to them at the centres. Those people who have been verified have been allowed to go. More than 50 people have been kept in each holding centre, where their documents are being checked. Everyone will be released after the investigation,” Kumar said.

Jain further explained that verification details are being sent to district magistrates or deputy commissioners in the respective states. “When we receive a report from there, we take further action based on what it says,” he noted.

So far, police say they have identified eight illegal immigrants believed to be from Bangladesh, with further verifications still underway.