The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), a civil rights advocacy group, has condemned a recent large-scale detention operation by Gujarat Police, who claim the detainees are illegal immigrants, saying that innocents were targeted and even denied basic rights, calling it alarming.
The operation, conducted late night on Saturday, April 26, 2025, involved the Special Operations Group (SOG), Crime Branch, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB), and local police teams. Raids took place in Ahmedabad (Chandola), Surat, Baroda, Rajkot, and other cities.
APCR stated the police objective, as reported in the media, was to identify, detain, and deport “illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals”. However, the civil rights group reported that thousands of families found their loved ones detained merely on suspicion, often based on vague questions about documents like ration cards and Aadhaar details.
Temporary detention centers, including Kankaria football ground, Police Stadium, Shahibagh, SOG Office Juhapura, and Crime Branch and Cyber crime offices in Ahmedabad, were filled with detainees. Relatives have alleged that many were held without access to lawyers, medical attention, or basic provisions such as food and water, including elderly persons, children, and pregnant or new mothers.
While some inter-state migrants, predominantly Muslims from states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and some local Gujaratis, have reportedly been released following civil-society intervention, thousands remain in detention. As of the APCR press release date, neither the Gujarat government nor senior police officials have provided official figures on the number of alleged illegal immigrants, the criteria used to determine nationality, or the legal basis for the detentions and potential deportations.
In Ahmedabad alone, over 1,000 individuals were apprehended. However, initial screening led to only around 100 people being suspected of being illegal immigrants due to a lack of documentary proof. At the Cyber Crime police station in Shahibagh, 80 people, mainly migrants from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, were eventually released after their identity and residence were verified.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
