Four members of a Bengali Muslim family in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, including a minor, were detained by plainclothes police and allegedly pushed into Bangladesh after being accused of being Bangladeshi nationals, a rights organisation said, raising questions about due process and nationality verification.
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), which conducted a fact-finding inquiry, said Dablu Saikh, 60, and his three sons, Kayem Sk, 29, Rajaul Sk, 20, and Asmaul Sk, 16, were taken from their home in Baliaghati village under Suti police station on the night of Aug. 13-14.
According to Dablu’s wife, Jahanara Bibi, five or six plainclothes police personnel arrived at the family’s home and took her husband away. When relatives went to a nearby police camp to enquire about him, they allegedly found that his three sons had also been detained.
The family was told that the four were Bangladeshi nationals and not Indian citizens, MASUM said.
A fact-finding team that visited Suti-I and Suti-II in September found that Dablu and his son Kayem remained on the electoral rolls and had voted in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, according to the organisation.
Dablu also possessed an Aadhaar card and ration card, while his father, Sk Samjani, was listed as a voter in 1966, MASUM said.
The records raised questions about the basis for the police allegation, the group said, calling for an independent verification of the family’s nationality.
When the organisation raised the matter with Suti police station Inspector-in-Charge Avijit Basu Mallick, he said he was “confirmed” that Dablu was a Bangladeshi national, according to MASUM.
The officer also said that Dablu and two of his sons had been handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and, following an order from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), pushed back or deported to Bangladesh.
The police officer and the West Bengal government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a letter to the state government, MASUM Secretary Kirity Roy questioned the legal and evidentiary basis for declaring Dablu a Bangladeshi national.
“Was the nationality of each individual separately verified, or were the sons simply treated as foreigners because they belonged to the same family?” the organisation asked.
MASUM also questioned why other members of the family continued to reside in India without being treated as foreign nationals.
The organisation has sought copies of the order authorising the deportation, FRRO proceedings, police verification reports, records of the alleged handover to the BSF and any communication with Bangladeshi authorities confirming the family’s identity and nationality.
It has also called for an independent investigation into the alleged detention, transfer and deportation of the four family members, including an inquiry into the role of police, intelligence and immigration officials.
The detention of Asmaul, who was around 16 at the time, was of particular concern to the group.
“A minor cannot simply be treated as an adult foreign national on the basis of a generalized police allegation concerning his family,” MASUM said, calling for separate consideration of his age, identity and legal status.
Roy, who also serves as national convenor of the Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), told Maktoob that the case reflected what he described as an increasing reliance on police action to determine nationality.
“The police are detecting people as offenders, and the role of prosecution is being played by the police,” Roy said, alleging that innocent Indian citizens, particularly migrant Muslims, were being detained without due process.
His allegations could not be independently verified by Reuters.
The case comes amid an intensified campaign by West Bengal authorities to identify and deport people they describe as undocumented migrants from Bangladesh.
In May, the state government announced plans to establish holding centres for alleged undocumented migrants as part of a “detect, delete and deport” policy.
In July, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari claimed that 4,800 alleged undocumented immigrants had been deported from the state over the previous month, while another 836 people held in detention centres would soon be deported.
Rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of Bengali-speaking Muslims in border districts, particularly those who possess Indian identity documents or electoral records.
The Calcutta High Court recently questioned the detention of a man suspected of being Bangladeshi and directed Raniganj Police to explain the basis for holding him for a month. Justice Saugata Bhattacharya also questioned why the man was being interrogated by police rather than being referred to the FRRO.
MASUM has separately sought an independent investigation into the alleged detention, custodial ill-treatment and attempted push-back of 66-year-old West Bengal labourer Jalil Akhtar, who it said possessed Indian identity and electoral records but was booked as a Bangladeshi national.
Since the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, Bengali-speaking people, mostly Muslims, have faced detention and questioning over their nationality in several Indian states, with some subsequently pushed across the border into Bangladesh.
In some cases, people sent across the border later returned after Indian authorities established that they were Indian citizens.
MASUM has demanded the immediate and safe return of Dablu, Kayem, Rajaul and Asmaul if they were taken across the border without a lawful and independently verifiable determination of their foreign nationality.
It has also sought an independent, time-bound inquiry into the family’s detention, alleged deportation and the conduct of officials involved.
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