Nearly 4,800 'illegal immigrants' returned to Bangladesh, 836 more in holding centres: Adhikari
'These people are being handed over to the BSF directly,' says West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said around 4,800 "illegal immigrants" have been sent to Bangladesh from holding centres set up in the state's border districts and another 836 such people are awaiting deportation from these facilities.
Adhikari said yesterday (7 June) at a BJP programme that his government had started deporting illegal immigrants who did not fall under India's Citizenship Amendment Act.
"These people are being handed over to the BSF directly," he was quoted as saying by PTI in Kolkata.
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Adhikari said though the law had been applied in other states of the country, the previous Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal had not implemented it.
Pointing to the gathering of people at the Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas district, Adhikari said many illegal immigrants had already left on their own.
Among Indian states, West Bengal shares the longest international boundary with Bangladesh, stretching 2,217km, out of a total of 4,096km.
The BJP leader said his government had already handed over land to the Border Security Force (BSF) to erect around 100km of fencing, out of the 556km required to secure the India-Bangladesh border.
The land handover was a continuous process and necessary for his country's security, he said.
"The demography of Bengal has changed," the chief minister said, adding that the BJP had made infiltration from Bangladesh and demographic change the biggest issues in the recent West Bengal assembly election.
He also accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC of having been complacent on both issues for political reasons.
Alleging that the census work had not been started in the state by the previous TMC administration, Adhikari said his government had commenced the process and that house surveys would take place from 1 to 15 August.
"The census will be completed by the end of next February, and delimitation will be held based on it," the chief minister said.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has recently thwarted multiple attempts by India's BSF to push people into Bangladesh through border points in different districts.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday said all important border-related issues, including push-ins, would be discussed at the upcoming four-day director general-level meeting between the BGB and BSF.
