Bengal man deported to Bangladesh despite Indian passport, voter ID, family alleges
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Kolkata: A 43-year-old Muslim fish trader from West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district was allegedly detained by police and sent to Bangladesh despite possessing an Indian passport and voter identity documents, his family has claimed.
Abdul Barek, a resident of Gopalpur village, was taken into custody by Raiganj Police in June on suspicion of being an undocumented Bangladeshi national, according to his son Jahidul Islam.
The family said Barek’s name appeared on the electoral rolls after the state’s Special Intensive Revision exercise and that he had voted in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in May. He also holds an Indian passport issued in 2021. Copies of his passport, voter identity card and electoral roll entry were seen by Scroll, which first reported the matter.
Islam said police first took his father to Bhatol outpost on June 2 to verify his identity documents. Barek was released after the family presented the papers but was later instructed to report to the police station if he received a summons.
About two weeks later, Barek was summoned again and allegedly detained. He was taken to Raiganj police station and subsequently moved to a detention facility, his son said.
“Police did not check our papers at all. They did not even talk to us. They were taking him away forcefully,” Islam alleged.
The family later received a phone call from Bangladesh and learned that Barek had been sent across the border. Islam said his father had occasionally contacted the family but that they had been unable to bring him back.
According to Islam, the police told the family that Barek had been “proven to be” Bangladeshi. However, they did not provide any document or other evidence to support the claim, he alleged.
Barek was the main earning member of a family of around 23 people and earned his livelihood through fish farming. His deportation has left the family facing financial hardship and uncertainty, Islam said.
The inspector-in-charge of Raiganj police station declined to comment, citing the Official Secrets Act, and asked that questions be sent by email. Scroll said it had sent an email and that the report would be updated if a response was received.
The case came to light after human rights organisation Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha approached the state Home Department, alleging that Barek had been illegally arrested and detained and that his whereabouts had not been disclosed.
Kirity Roy, secretary of the organisation, said the authorities must establish where Barek was being held and account for his custody.
Roy said a person holding Indian identity documents, including a passport issued after police verification, could not be treated as a foreign national and expelled solely on the basis of an administrative or police assertion. Any dispute over citizenship, he said, must be resolved through due process and appropriate judicial safeguards.
The alleged deportation comes amid a wider crackdown on Bengali-speaking people, mostly Muslims, accused of being undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants. Several such individuals have reportedly been detained or pushed across the border in recent months, with some later returning to India after authorities established their Indian citizenship.
In May, the West Bengal government announced plans to establish holding centres for alleged undocumented migrants as part of a “detect, delete, deport” policy. According to Scroll, Barek’s case is the 17th involving a Muslim man detained by West Bengal Police since June on allegations of being Bangladeshi.