8 detained in Delhi as ‘illegal’ migrants after opting for India in 2015 enclave exchange, released

Eight residents of West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district, who were detained in Delhi on the suspicion of being “illegal” Bangladesh migrants, were released on Tuesday. They were members of families who had relocated to India in the 2015 enclave exchange between India and Bangladesh.

All eight were detained by the police on Monday from a brick kiln in Haryana during a drive against undocumented migrants, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest Delhi) Bhisham Singh told The Indian Express.

They were released on Tuesday, their family members told Scroll.

The release came after the eight migrants produced their resident cards issued by the West Bengal government and other relevant documents, Singh added.

Those who were detained were identified as Samsul Haque and his brother Rejaul Haque, Muhammad Rayhan Haque, Muhammad Rabiul Haque, and his wife Rashida Begum, the newspaper reported. Rabiul’s three children were also detained.

Their family members told The Indian Express that all eight are from Dashiar Chhara, a former Indian enclave in Bangladesh. They had moved to an apartment complex in Cooch Behar’s Dinhata area made exclusively for enclave dwellers who had come to India after the exchange in 2015.

Their release came the police in Cooch Behar district police contacted their counterparts in Delhi.

Samirul Islam, chairperson of the West Bengal migrant welfare board, claimed that such...

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