The Gurgaon Police has said it will round up only “confirmed foreign nationals” as part of its verification drive, as it shut four holding facilities that housed suspected foreigners.
The four facilities were at community centres in Badshahpur, Sector 10A, Sector 40, and Sector 1 in Manesar. A police spokesperson on Friday said the centres have been emptied.
Over the past week, several migrant workers — mostly daily-wage labourers — were allegedly rounded up by the police as part of the drive, sparking panic among the Bengali-speaking migrant community and prompting many to leave the city. Families had claimed they had valid documentation — Aadhaar, PAN and ration cards and voter IDs — but the police detained their loved ones.
The move also left housing societies that depended on these workers for sanitation services struggling in terms of door-to-door waste collection.
Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters), Dr Arpit Jain, told The Indian Express on Saturday, “We have identified 10 Bangladeshis (staying here illegally) from those kept at the holding centres. The deportation process is already underway for seven of them.”
Dr Jain added that while further holding of suspected foreigners at these centres has been halted for now, the verification drive is on.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
