Ahmedabad, June 6 (IANS) Ahmedabad has emerged as the epicentre of Gujarat Police’s ongoing ‘Operation Delta Hunt’, accounting for the highest number of Bangladeshi nationals identified during the statewide verification and enforcement drive and offering investigators an unprecedented insight into how undocumented migrants were living, working and moving across the state.
The operation, launched simultaneously across Gujarat after weeks of intelligence gathering, telecom analysis, technical surveillance and field verification, has so far led to the identification of 568 Bangladeshi nationals allegedly residing illegally in the state, with Ahmedabad alone accounting for 192 cases.
The numbers have continued to rise since the first phase of the operation, when authorities initially reported 362 confirmed cases statewide, including 166 in Ahmedabad.
Investigations and verification exercises remain ongoing.
According to the Gujarat Police, the operation was built on a database of more than 6,200 suspected individuals generated through analysis of communication patterns, intelligence inputs and field-level information.
More than 780 additional people were placed under verification during the initial stages of the exercise, while police teams continued searches across multiple districts.
Authorities also established checkpoints at railway stations, bus terminals and major highways to prevent suspects from fleeing during the operation. At least 18 individuals attempting to escape were apprehended.
While illegal migrants were identified in several districts, including Surat, Vadodara, Bharuch, Rajkot and parts of Saurashtra and Kutch, Ahmedabad accounted for the largest concentration, making the city the primary focus of investigators seeking to understand how undocumented migrants entered Gujarat and established themselves within local communities and labour networks.
The picture that emerged from police investigations was markedly different from previous years.
Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sharad Singhal told IANS that earlier concentrations around Chandola Lake had given way to a far more dispersed presence across the city.
“They were found from so many places like Naroda, Odhav, Vatva GIDC, Danilimda, Shah Alam and Sarkhej. Earlier, they were totally concentrated around Chandola Talav, but this time they were scattered around all of the city,” Singhal said.
The shift made detection significantly more difficult. Instead of living in one large cluster, many had moved into rented rooms and temporary accommodation spread across industrial and working-class neighbourhoods.
According to the police, most did not own homes and were living in small rented premises, often sharing one-room or two-room dwellings with several others.
“Definitely, they are very poor and they don’t have their own houses. They rented accommodation, and that too very temporary accommodation,” Singhal added.
The operation involved more than 30 teams comprising personnel from the Crime Branch, Cyber Crime Branch, Special Operations Group, Economic Offences Wing and local police stations. Raids were conducted overnight across multiple zones of Ahmedabad.
Investigators found that Ahmedabad’s industrial economy and large migrant workforce provided an environment in which undocumented migrants could blend in more easily.
Police said many of the men were employed in low-paid informal occupations, including daily-wage labour, garbage collection, puncture repair work and other casual jobs.
“Husbands are into petty jobs. Earlier, they were collecting garbage and doing labour work. Some are doing puncture work and similar small jobs,” Singhal told IANS.
The eastern industrial belt of Ahmedabad emerged as a recurring theme in the investigation.
Police noted that large numbers of labourers from other Indian states live in these areas for employment in factories and industrial units, creating transient populations where documentation is rarely scrutinised on a daily basis.
The investigation also revealed a substantial number of women among those identified.
According to Singhal, more than 100 of the 192 people identified in Ahmedabad were women.
“Roughly, if I take a figure of 100 women, around 70 to 75 per cent are into spa and prostitution works,” he said.
Police clarified that no minors were found involved in prostitution-related activities.
Officials said some women lived in accommodation arranged by spa operators, while others were housed by individuals allegedly running prostitution networks.
Some stayed at locations where they worked, while others moved into rented accommodation after earning enough money to support a household.
Police allege that many women were brought to Gujarat through organised trafficking and facilitation networks.
Investigators are now tracing agents who allegedly arranged illegal border crossings and later connected women with spa businesses or prostitution rackets.
“We are searching for those agents who lured them and took money to pass the border illegally and then forced them into prostitution,” Singhal said.
According to investigators, the network stretches beyond Gujarat.
Police suspect a chain involving recruiters in Bangladesh, contacts in eastern India and facilitators in Gujarat who communicated labour requirements from spas and other establishments before arranging travel and accommodation.
“One person in Gujarat collects the requirement from various spas and passes it on to the respective person staying in Bangladesh,” Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) said.
He added that some women directly contacted friends or acquaintances from their villages after hearing about employment opportunities in India. The economic reality uncovered by investigators was stark.
Singhal said many women earned around Rs 500 a day and were often dependent on intermediaries who controlled accommodation and employment.
“They were exploited here. They know they cannot go back and cannot easily approach law-enforcement agencies. They were getting paid roughly around Rs 500 per day,” he added.
He also told IANS, “They were not earning very much, but they believe that even Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month from India is a major support for their families in Bangladesh.”
One of the key aspects of ‘Operation Delta Hunt’ has been the scrutiny of identity documents.
According to the police, many individuals possessed Aadhaar cards carrying addresses from rural areas of West Bengal.
However, investigators said difficulties arose when additional documents were requested.
“Most of them have Aadhaar cards having addresses of West Bengal. But when we ask for other Indian IDs and IDs of their parents, they are not able to produce them,” Singhal said.
Officials have confirmed that several Aadhaar cards recovered during the operation are under investigation.
“Authorities are examining who facilitated the creation of those documents,” the Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) added.
Officials emphasised that Aadhaar itself is not proof of citizenship under Indian law and that verification involved multiple layers of document examination and intelligence checks.
The operation also highlighted how long the issue has persisted in Ahmedabad.
Singhal pointed to a similar exercise conducted in 2009 when more than 300 Bangladeshi nationals were deported from the city.
“In 2009, when our Commissioner G.S. Malik was Joint Commissioner in Special Branch, a similar exercise was carried out and more than 300 Bangladeshis were deported,” he said.
According to the senior police officer, settlements gradually reappeared after those deportations and expanded over time. Police teams encountered minor resistance during the raids.
Singhal said many initially claimed to be Indian citizens and produced Aadhaar cards or other documents.
“First of all, they resisted. They said they were Indians and they had Indian IDs. But when we asked for other documents and checked their mobiles, they accepted that they had been caught,” he added.
At the same time, investigators reported that many expressed willingness to return to Bangladesh once their identities had been established.
“Most of them are going. They are okay with deportation. But they also say they do not have jobs there,” officials said.
The investigation is now moving beyond the migrants themselves.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi has indicated police are examining the role of those who provided shelter, employment, forged documents or other assistance.
Special teams have been tasked with identifying local facilitators and dismantling networks that enabled illegal residence in Gujarat.
Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) K.L.N. Rao said the operation relied heavily on data analysis and intelligence-led policing.
According to the state government, the database created during ‘Operation Delta Hunt’ will continue to be used to identify additional suspects and trace the broader networks involved in illegal migration.
For investigators, Ahmedabad has become the clearest case study of how undocumented migrants established themselves within Gujarat.
The city’s combination of industrial employment, informal labour markets, rented accommodation, transient populations and alleged facilitation networks allowed people to disperse across numerous neighbourhoods rather than remain concentrated in a single settlement.
As the exercise continues, police say Ahmedabad remains at the centre of efforts to map those networks, identify facilitators and complete deportation proceedings against those found to be residing in the country illegally.
–IANS
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