Bengaluru, 23 August

A joint fact-finding report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, All India Lawyers Association for Justice, Domestic Workers’ Rights Union, All India Central Council of Trade Unions and some other groups has accused Bengaluru Police of linguistic and class profiling, arbitrary detention, assault and invasive searches against Bengali-speaking migrant workers in the City. 

The report said that the actions took place during an “illegal immigrant verification” drive that began on 8 August across 10 to 12 police station jurisdictions. Police allegedly entered working-class migrant settlements and rounded up men, women, children and elderly people, including those who were able to show their Aadhaar and PAN cards immediately. Affected people said that personnel from different police station jurisdictions demanded different sets of documents. Mobile phones were seized and searched. 

The detained were also allegedly taken to marriage halls and convention centres instead of police stations, and held there for 10 to 12 hours without access to lawyers or lavatories. No private area was provided for breastfeeding women carrying infants, and in some cases mothers were separated from their children, who remained alone at home for hours. No official cause for the detention was given and they were not told when they would be released, while lawyers and activists who attempted to meet them were denied and threatened. 

The report further alleged that men in one of these jurisdictions were assaulted with lathis and that police reportedly broke gates and CCTV cameras at one settlement. It also said that no official police statement was made and that the official numbers of the detained were inconsistent. 

Notably, while all migrants were subject to such treatment, the report said, working-class Bengali migrants were disproportionately targeted. More affluent Bengali communities were not subjected to the raid. 

The report added that although multiple organisations submitted a complaint regarding the incident to the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, the Karnataka Director General of Police and the state Home Minister, the drive continued on 9 August.