The new BJP government in Bengal has asked the district magistrates to set up “holding centres” for detained “foreigners” and “released foreign prisoners” awaiting deportation.

The order, issued by the home secretary on Saturday, follows chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s announcement that his government would implement a year-old central directive to identify illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and
hand them over to the BSF for deportation.

“...It is requested to take initiative/ appropriate action for setting up of Holding Centres in the district for apprehended foreigners as well as for the released foreign prisoners awaiting deportation/ repatriation in accordance with the MHA (Union home ministry) guideline…,” the letter to the DMs says.

It adds that it is being sent in the context of the deportation of Bangladeshis and Rohingya immigrants staying illegally in India.

A Bengal home department official said the Union home ministry had on May 2 last year told the states to set up holding centres for illegal immigrants, particularly Bangladeshis and Rohingya.

“They can be arrested on suspicion and detained in the holding centres for 30 days while the police complete the investigation,” he said.

“Based on the investigation report, the DM or an official of equivalent designation would take a call on the suspect’s citizenship.”

Another official said: “If anyone is identified as an illegal immigrant, their biometric data will be collected and uploaded on the MHA portal. After this, the illegal immigrant will be handed over to the BSF, which will take care of the deportation.”

While most BJP-ruled states had implemented the directive straightaway, leading to police harassment for scores of migrant workers from Bengal, the Trinamool government protested against the “atrocity” and refused to enforce the order.

“Even though Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court asked questions about the hurried decisions (by BJP governments) to push people from India (into Bangladesh), it appears that (Bengal’s) BJP government will stick to the central directive,” a source said.

“This is evidence of how Bengal’s new government is pushing the (Centre’s) agenda.”

Suvendu had on Thursday said the police had been told not to produce apprehended Bangladeshi illegals before a court but to feed them well and “send them straight to a border outpost” for deportation to Bangladesh by the BSF.

A senior police officer told this newspaper that the law requires illegal aliens to be booked under Section 14(A) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and produced before a court.

Assam’s re-elected BJP chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has bragged about the way his government has been pushing people declared as foreigners across the border instead of holding them indefinitely at detention centres.

At Sarma’s swearing-in on May 12 in Guwahati, Suvendu had described him as his “elder brother” and said Bengal would follow the measures he had adopted on illegal immigrants.

Sarma had shared two photographs with Suvendu on his X handle and written: “Bad days for… (You know who).”

On May 20, Suvendu announced a detect-delete-deport policy on illegal aliens while clarifying that those who had arrived before December 31, 2024, and were eligible to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, would not be touched.

The Act specifically excludes Muslims from its purview.