Representative Image
CHENNAI: In a major crackdown on foreign nationals staying without valid documents, Tamil Nadu Police detained 73 Bangladeshi nationals, including 28 children, during a special operation in Hosur on July 14, 2026. The group, comprising 22 men, 23 women and 28 children, is being transferred to a special holding facility in Salem for further legal proceedings.
Reacting to their detention, Hindu Munnani, on its social media handle X, welcomed their arrest. It said, “The arrest of 73 Bangladeshi nationals who were staying in Hosur town in Krishnagiri district. We urge the government to continue this operation of arresting illegally staying foreign nationals without proper papers and deport them to their motherland.”
In early July 2026, the Tamil Nadu Police sent 50 Bangladeshi nationals (44 men and 6 women) from the Attur special camp in Salem to West Bengal via the Howrah Express. Under a 40-member armed police escort, they were transferred to the Haridaspur border and handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) for official deportation.
On 3 July 2026, the illegal Bangladeshi nationals were transported from the detention camp to Tiruchirappalli in three police vans under tight security arrangements.
From Tiruchirappalli, they boarded the Howrah Express in a specially reserved railway coach designated for their journey. A team of 40-armed policemen was led by Salem, Armed Reserve Deputy Superintendent of Police Sakthivel.
The team escorted the group throughout the journey to West Bengal to ensure security during the transfer. They formally handed over the Bangladeshi nationals to the Border Security Force at the Haridaspur land border in West Bengal. The BSF completed the required legal and administrative formalities.
Tamil Nadu state intelligence and Anti-Terrorist Squads (ATS) previously arrested over 200 illegal immigrants in a four-month span, including 28 individuals detained in a single targeted operation in Tiruppur.
The special detention camp at Attur near Salem was set up to house illegally infiltrated foreign nationals while their legal proceedings are underway. It is learnt that it currently accommodates more than 130 foreign nationals whose cases are still pending or who have been released on bail. The latest 73 illegal Bangladeshis would now also be housed there.
Critics suspect, “After the new BJP government was formed in West Bengal, illegal Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya Muslims moved out to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and other southern states to continue their illegal stay. There have been agents who would get them forged documents to make their stay legal with their connections and for their votes and as part of their anti-national activities. Till the next SIR or crackdown by police, their presence would not be detected.”
