India flies 150 Bangladeshis out of Kashmir for deportation

Indian authorities have flown 150 people identified as Bangladeshi nationals from Kashmir to West Bengal for deportation to Bangladesh, as part of a wider drive targeting people accused of staying illegally in Jammu and Kashmir.

The group was flown from Srinagar to Bagdogra airport on Monday aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft and handed over to India's Border Security Force (BSF) for onward repatriation, The Telegraph India reported, citing officials.

Another batch of around 150 Bangladeshis is scheduled to be moved on Wednesday, October 7, according to Indian officials.

Many of those detained had been working in low-paid jobs, including construction and other informal work, according to Indian media reports.

The operation followed a verification drive across Kashmir. Indian authorities said discrepancies in Aadhaar information provided by some workers triggered further checks, after which their details were sent to Bangladesh for nationality verification.

Indian officials have given varying figures for the number identified during the exercise. Government data cited by ThePrint put the number of Bangladeshi nationals identified across Jammu and Kashmir at 504 — 458 in the Kashmir Valley and 46 in Jammu. Other reports have put the figure at around 600.

The deportations come amid a broader crackdown on undocumented migrants following the formation of a high-level committee by India's Home Ministry to examine demographic changes linked to illegal immigration and other factors.

The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar, visited Jammu and Kashmir in August and inspected settlements housing Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has questioned the sudden nature of the operation.

While acknowledging that people could not remain in the territory illegally, Abdullah said their presence had not caused any particular harm and described the sudden action as “a bit strange.”

Bangladesh has previously maintained that undocumented nationals should be returned through established bilateral mechanisms after their nationality is verified, rather than through unilateral push-ins.

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