61 people detained in Ahmedabad during pre-Diwali security operation

Millat Times Desk

03 November 2026 (Publish: 09:13 AM IST)

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Police in Ahmedabad detained 61 people suspected of staying in India without valid documents on Monday as part of a security operation ahead of Diwali, The Indian Express reported.

The police alleged that most of those taken into custody were Bangladeshi nationals. The group also included women and children.

Those detained were brought to the Gujarat Police Crime Branch headquarters. They are likely to be transferred to the Joint Interrogation Centre, a facility where central intelligence agencies, state police and military personnel carry out joint questioning.

The process for deporting the detainees was in progress, the newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying.

Following the April 2025 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir, police in several states, largely governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, have picked up Bengali-speaking people, most of them Muslims, and sought documents to establish their Indian citizenship.

Some of those detained have reportedly been pushed across the border into Bangladesh after being unable to produce proof of citizenship. There have also been instances in which people wrongly sent to Bangladesh were brought back after Indian authorities confirmed that they were Indian citizens.

In May 2025, the Union Home Ministry asked state governments and Union Territories to verify the identities of individuals suspected of illegally entering India from Bangladesh and Myanmar.