VARANASI: Illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya are creating issues in different parts of the country. Now, the Varanasi Commissionerate Police have stepped up their surveillance and verification drive with growing concern about their rising presence, particularly suspected Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals across the Varanasi district. The official inputs suggest nearly 500 suspicious persons had already been identified, and verification of their identities was underway.
Operation ‘Torch’: A sweep throughout the district
To address the issue of illegal migrants, the police launched Operation ‘Torch’, a verification drive of a week across slums, temporary settlements and labour colonies. In the first phase alone, officers discovered hundreds of persons whose documents, identity cards and family details were inconsistent or incomplete. Many lacked verifiable proof of origin, a pattern documented in past police operations against infiltrators in Uttar Pradesh.
A similar pattern has emerged across India, especially in bordering states like West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The police data of recent events in these areas suggest that infiltrators, after entering through porous borders, later disperse into interior states for labour work, with unverified identities to evade detection. Varanasi, with its importance as a pilgrimage and economic hub, becomes a favourable location for this kind of movement.
Suspicious exodus deepens police concerns
Police, during the verification drive, found that many families from Cholapur-like areas vacated their homes just before the arrival of verification teams. The incident coincided with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in which details of deceased, migrated, and non-eligible voters are being updated. Their disappearance has led to suspicion that some may be on the run to avoid both policing and electoral verification.
Such behaviour is in consonance with previous national-level investigations where suspected infiltrators changed residences repeatedly to avoid documentation trails.
Contradictions in Claims of Identity
On December 8, 2025, police teams conducted a raid and checks in Shivpurva, where a number of people were staying within the compound of a local political leader of the Samajwadi Party. Many of them introduced themselves as residents of the Birbhum district in West Bengal. But their verbal statements and the papers they produced did not quite match. There were huge differences in the family history, addresses and dates of movement into Uttar Pradesh.
According to police sources, this is nothing new in cases of organised human trafficking or rackets related to migration, where forged or borrowed documents become common.
To curb this identity crisis, the Varanasi Police sent a special team to Assam and West Bengal. This team in cooperation with local authorities, will physically verify permanent addresses, conduct checks on original records and confirm citizenship details. Once the team returns, the police expect a clear difference to show up between the legitimate migrant workers and those who may have entered India through illegal means.
This method replicates the standard inter-state verification drives initiated by police once suspected foreign nationals are found, especially after the Central agencies brought it to the notice that a number of infiltrators have dispersed from border states to metro cities and religious hubs.
Growing national security concern
“It is not only a law and order issue but a serious security challenge that this illegal infiltration poses,” says the police authority. Central and state agencies have reported over the years that networks smuggling Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants operate across many states. Some groups of immigrants allegedly use India as a transit point, while others have been known to temporarily assimilate by getting absorbed into labour clusters.
Since Varanasi is an important religious capital and also a destination for international tourism, the presence of undocumented individuals adds more to the security concerns, in particular when major festivals and global events are held.
The Commissionerate Police have made it clear that Operation ‘Torch’ will continue beyond the scheduled dates. Anyone found to be living illegally in the district would draw action under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act, Passport Act and other criminal provisions. Intensive verification of rental properties, contractor-hired labour and temporary shelters is expected to continue throughout the winter.
As officers await field reports from Assam and West Bengal, the crackdown marks one of the biggest verification drives in Varanasi in recent years, a part reflection of rising alertness within the police system and part reflection of an evolving pattern of internal migration among suspected illegal entrants.
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