Kolkata: In a major crackdown on illegal infiltration, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday instructed police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel not to produce Bangladeshi infiltrators in court if they are caught in the state and are not covered under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Instead, such individuals should be taken directly to Border Security Force (BSF) outposts near the international border, the Chief Minister said during an administrative meeting in Howrah.

The directive comes a day after Adhikari announced from Nabanna that the state government would begin implementing the Centre’s guidelines on illegal infiltration, which he claimed were ignored by the previous administration.

Calling for tighter monitoring at Howrah station, one of the country’s busiest railway hubs, the Chief Minister said infiltrators frequently use rail networks to enter different parts of the state.

“The Police Commissioner and the RPF have already been instructed that Bangladeshi infiltrators who do not fall under the CAA should not be sent to court if caught at Howrah station.

They should be properly fed and then taken directly either to the Petrapole border in Bongaon or to BSF Border Outposts near Basirhat,” Adhikari said.

He also directed the police administration to maintain weekly data on infiltrators detained across the state. According to the Chief Minister, the figures must be submitted every week to the Chief Minister’s Office through the Director General of Police (DGP).

The Citizenship Amendment Act grants refugee protection to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan before December 31, 2024, citing religious persecution.

Adhikari alleged that although the Union government had issued a guideline on the issue last year, the previous state government failed to enforce it. He said the directive officially came into force in West Bengal from Wednesday.

Illegal infiltration was one of the BJP’s key campaign issues during the Assembly elections, with party leaders repeatedly promising strict action against undocumented migrants.

With the BJP now in power in Bengal, the new government has begun rolling out measures linked to that promise.