West Bengal to hand over 'illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators' to BSF: Suvendu
“Those who are not covered under the CAA will be treated as infiltrators. The state police will arrest them and hand them over to the BSF,” he says.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari today (20 May) announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state and said "illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators" detained by police would be handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) for deportation.
Speaking after a meeting with BSF officials, Adhikari said, "The West Bengal Police would arrest individuals not covered under the CAA and hand them over to the BSF, which would subsequently coordinate with Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) authorities for deportation."
"A letter was sent by the Centre to the state last year regarding the direct handover of infiltrators to the BSF, but the previous government failed to implement this important provision. We have now enforced it," he added.
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Adhikari said the Indian government had sent a directive to the West Bengal government on 14 May 2025 regarding the handover process for "illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators."
He said the legal framework for such handovers was also sent by India's Under Secretary Pratap Singh Rawat, but the previous state administration did not act on it.
The chief minister alleged that the former Trinamool Congress government opposed granting citizenship to refugees under the CAA while also failing to utilise what he described as an important legal provision to address illegal immigration.
According to Adhikari, people belonging to the seven religious communities covered under the CAA who entered India by 31 December 2024 would not face police harassment and would remain eligible for citizenship protections. However, the provision would not apply to Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Those who are not covered under the CAA will be treated as infiltrators. The state police will arrest them and hand them over to the BSF," he said.
The chief minister also announced the transfer of a 27-kilometre stretch of land to the BSF for fencing and security infrastructure along the India-Bangladesh border.
"The land transfer will be completed within two weeks. Initially, land covering a 27km stretch along the international boundary is being handed over," he said.
Highlighting border security concerns, Adhikari said around 1,600 kilometres of West Bengal's 2,200-kilometre border with Bangladesh had already been fenced, while nearly 600 kilometres remained unfenced.
"Wherever land is needed for fencing and border security, we will hand it over to the BSF," he added.
He also accused the previous state government of failing to cooperate on border infrastructure development because of "vote bank and appeasement politics."
Adhikari further claimed that coordination between the BSF, West Bengal Police and district administrations in border areas had weakened over the years, but said district-level coordination mechanisms had now been revived.
