NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday claimed that a large number of alleged illegal Bangladeshi nationals had assembled at the Hakimpur checkpoint in North 24 Parganas district’s Basirhat subdivision and urged authorities to expedite their deportation.Speaking to reporters after an administrative meeting in Kalyani attended by officials from Nadia, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts, Adhikari said those gathered at the border point were willing to return to Bangladesh.“Jaldi jaldi bhago nahi toh jo karna hai sarkar karega (Quickly leave, otherwise the government will take necessary action),” Adhikari said while referring to the gathering at the checkpoint, as quoted by news agency PTI.“We do not want to feed them in jails or waste public money on them. This is actually harming the Indians, especially in West Bengal. The law was there, but was not utilised by a few people for vote bank. We will go beyond vote bank and implement this for the sake of the country and the state,” he added.

‘Detect, delete and deport’ policy

The remarks come amid the rollout of the state government’s “detect, delete and deport” policy aimed at identifying and deporting alleged illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from the state.The Bengal government has directed all districts to establish holding centres for “apprehended foreigners” and “released foreign prisoners” until deportation formalities are completed.Malda became the first district in West Bengal to operationalise such a holding centre. The facility, located at Chandan Park in English Bazar, is currently housing nine suspected Bangladeshi nationals, including women and minors, who were brought there from Gazole’s Pandua area under tight security arrangements.Officials told PTI that the centres are being created to temporarily house foreign nationals detained for alleged illegal entry or lack of valid documents while verification and legal procedures are carried out.

BJP government links move to border security

Adhikari had earlier announced that infiltrators detained by state police would be handed over directly to the Border Security Force for deportation instead of being routed through prolonged legal processes.“Those who are outside the purview of the CAA are infiltrators and will be arrested by the state police and handed over to the BSF,” Adhikari had said during a recent meeting with senior BSF officials regarding fencing work along the Bangladesh border.Earlier today, Union home minister Amit Shah announced the formation of a high-level committee to examine demographic changes in the country due to “illegal immigration and other unnatural causes”.In a post on X, Shah said “unnatural demographic change due to infiltration and other reasons poses a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation.”