The Gujarat Police have expanded 'Operation Delta Hunt' beyond the detention of hundreds of suspected illegal Bangladeshi migrants and are now zeroing in on local agents, employers, and facilitators who allegedly arranged shelter, jobs, and forged identity documents. Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced the widened scope on Wednesday, 3 June, signalling that anyone harbouring undocumented foreign nationals could face prosecution.

Operation Delta Hunt expands focus

Sanghavi said the crackdown is no longer limited to identifying foreign nationals living illegally in the state. ‘Police units are investigating who provided these people with houses, who gave them jobs, and who helped them remain here. Anyone providing shelter to such illegal individuals without proper documentation will also face legal action,’ he said.

Officials indicated that field teams are combining technology with human intelligence to track down those suspected of arranging SIM cards, rental accommodation, employment, and forged paperwork — including Aadhaar and voter identity cards. ‘The people helping infiltrators will not be spared,’ Sanghavi warned.

Employers and document forgery under lens

The Deputy CM said strict action will follow against industries found employing undocumented foreign nationals without filing mandatory verification documents with the police. Investigators are also examining how detainees secured Indian identity papers in the first place.

According to the state government, several of those detained are suspected of having crossed into India years ago through different stretches of West Bengal, where they reportedly obtained local documents that were later parlayed into formal IDs. ‘Authorities had received information suggesting that some individuals had managed to obtain local documents in villages and towns near the Bangladesh border and subsequently acquired Aadhaar cards using those records,’ Sanghavi told reporters.

Telecom trail and ongoing questioning

Director General of Police K. L. N. Rao said the operation has leaned heavily on telecom analysis and field verification. A database of Indian mobile numbers that had communicated with Bangladeshi numbers was compiled, leading investigators to more than 6,200 suspicious profiles.

Authorities said questioning of over 782 suspected individuals was continuing, with further arrests likely as verification proceeds. Sanghavi declined to engage with suggestions of political links, saying no such connections had surfaced so far and that the ‘investigation remained ongoing’.

What happens next

The operation will continue across Gujarat in the coming weeks, Sanghavi asserted, as police work to identify both illegal residents and the networks that enabled their stay. This is among the largest coordinated drives against undocumented migrants undertaken by the state in recent years, and its outcome could shape how other states approach the document-forgery layer that often underpins long-term illegal residency.