Mistaken Identity: How Haryana’s Migrant Crackdown Is Detaining Indian Citizens

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5 Key Takeaways

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court questioned Haryana's migrant verification process after Indian citizens were wrongly detained as illegal immigrants.
• In July, several Bengali-speaking individuals from West Bengal and Assam were held in Gurugram on suspicion of being Bangladeshi migrants but were later released after document verification.
• The court asked Haryana to submit its standard operating procedure (SOP) for verifying migrant identities by September 15, amid concerns about lack of clear guidelines.
• Petitioners argued that there is no proper verification process and that detainees faced inhuman treatment and poor communication while in custody.
• There remains no clarity on how authorities distinguish between illegal migrants and Indian citizens during such crackdowns.

When Locals Get Mistaken for Migrants: Haryana’s Policy Under the Scanner
Recently, a troubling incident in Gurugram (Gurgaon), Haryana, has put the spotlight on how authorities identify and handle suspected illegal immigrants. In July, several Bengali-speaking people were picked up by the police on suspicion of being undocumented Bangladeshi migrants. However, it turned out that many of them were actually Indian citizens from West Bengal and Assam. After their documents were checked, they were released—but not before spending time in detention.
This incident has raised serious questions about the process used to identify illegal migrants. A petition was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Nirmal Gorana, a Delhi resident, who argued that neither Haryana nor Punjab has a clear and fair system for verifying the identity of people detained during such crackdowns. The petition claims that existing rules are either missing or not being followed properly, leading to innocent Indians being wrongly detained.
The Haryana government defended its actions, saying that the police were following orders from the central government. In May 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had asked all states to set up special teams in every district to find and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants within 30 days. Haryana’s lawyers told the court that there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for this, created by the MHA’s Foreigners Branch. However, they couldn’t confirm if this SOP is available to the public or if the police were actually using it.
The lawyer for the petitioners, Bhavpreet Singh Dhatt, pointed out that over a thousand workers were detained in Gurugram alone, many of whom had valid documents proving they were Indian citizens. He also said that people were kept in detention centers without proper communication and faced poor treatment, all because there was no clear SOP guiding the process.
The High Court has now asked the Haryana government to submit the SOP, if it exists, by September 15. The petitioner must also file a statement if they believe no such procedure exists. As of now, there is still no clear answer on how authorities are supposed to tell the difference between illegal migrants and Indian citizens during these operations.
This case highlights the need for a transparent and fair process to ensure that innocent people are not wrongly caught up in anti-migrant drives. It’s a reminder that, in the rush to enforce the law, the rights of citizens must not be overlooked.

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