By Maktoob
A joint fact-finding report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ), Domestic Workers’ Rights Union (DWRU), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), NND and other social activists has accused Bengaluru Police of subjecting Bengali-speaking migrant workers to linguistic and class profiling, arbitrary detention, assault and invasive searches during an “illegal immigrant verification” drive.
Beginning on 8 August, police carried out coordinated operations across at least 10 to 12 police station jurisdictions, entering migrant worker settlements during the early morning hours, according to the report.
Police officers allegedly rounded up men, women, children and elderly residents, including several people who produced Aadhaar and PAN cards on the spot, and transported them without explanation to marriage halls, choultries and convention centres instead of police stations.
The residents were confined at these venues for 10 to 12 hours, the report said.
Accounts documented by the fact-finding team alleged that men detained under one police station jurisdiction were beaten with lathis. In another locality, police personnel allegedly broke gates and CCTV cameras while entering the settlement.
The report said mobile phones were confiscated and searched across the affected areas, including photo galleries containing images of women.
Several women, toddlers and young children were among those detained. According to the report, the children were crying and visibly distressed, while their parents were not informed when they would be permitted to return home.
Some women told the fact-finding team that they had been taken away while their young children remained alone at home for hours. Women carrying infants said that no safe or private place was provided for breastfeeding.
The report described the purported verification process as inconsistent and arbitrary, with different police stations demanding different sets of documents.
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