E-Paper
Verification drive finds zero illegal Bangladeshi migrantsin Lucknow
People from Assam are working as daily-wagers and residing in the city legally; there is no evidence to suggest they are Bangladeshi nationals, says officer
LUCKNOW Following months of sustained verification drives, Lucknow police confirmed they have not identified a single Bangladeshi national residing illegally in the city. The findings come despite repeated political assertions and claims regarding their presence in urban shanties.
According to senior officials, extensive checks were conducted across multiple police station areas, with a specific focus on slums and densely populated settlements where it was suspected that Bangladeshi nationals might be posing as Assamese migrants. The drive involved door-to-door verification, rigorous document scrutiny and close coordination with intelligence agencies
HT spoke to the DCPs of all five zones in the police commissionerate, but no one confirmed to have found any Bangladeshi national staying illegally.
“We have conducted thorough verification exercises across the city. So far, no Bangladeshi national has been identified in Lucknow,” said DCP (central) Vikrant Vir. Shanties in places like Ballu Adda in Dalibagh were scanned in the this zone.
Similarly, in the South zone, Lucknow police and LMC carried out a verification drive in Aurangabad Jagir locality under Bijnor police station limits and multiple other areas close to the airport on December 1. “We found nothing as such,” said a police officer.
On November 18, mayor Sushma Kharkwal made a surprise visit to the portable compactor transfer station (PCTS) in Vineet Khand 6, Gomti Nagar (zone 4), checking documents of sanitation workers as part of the drive to trace Bangladeshis/Rohingya allegedly living illegally in the city. She questioned workers and cross-verified certificates, focusing on employees from Assam, to ensure that no Bangladeshis/Rohingya were allegedly deployed in sanitation or waste management duties.
On December 4, the mayor launched field inspections in Phool Bagh colony (near the Gudamba police station) and Indira Nagar for identification of illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The team allegedly confiscated carts and other items from nearly 70 families of slum dwellers and provided an open plot for informal settlements.
DCP (east) Shashank Singh, under whom Gudamba and Indira Nagar areas come, too said that no such people were found as the verification of their documents was already done.
When HT spoke to joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar about the development, he too said that nothing of this kind had been found so far.
“People from Assam are working here as daily-wagers and residing in the city legally. There is no evidence to suggest they are Bangladeshi nationals,” an officer said. “No concrete intelligence has emerged to confirm the presence of Bangladeshi nationals in Lucknow, except that the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a Bangladeshi woman living with a false Hindu identity in the Thakurganj area of the state capital in December,” an officer from West zone of Lucknow commissionerate added.
Authorities said the verification drive will continue as a routine exercise to identify illegal residents, if any, and ensure law and order. “If any credible input is received in future, it will be acted upon strictly as per law,” an official said.
In Jan 2025, mayor claimed 2L illegal migrants in city
In January 2025, mayor Sushma Kharkwal had claimed that about 2 lakh Bangladeshis and Rohingya were residing illegally in the state capital and that the LMC will conduct a survey to identify them.
The verification exercise, which began several months ago, was intensified following repeated complaints and political statements. Police teams were instructed to verify identity documents, including Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and other residence proofs, particularly in areas with migrant labour populations.
Officials said individuals who were found to be migrants hailed largely from Assam and mostly from districts like Barpetta and Kamrup and possessed valid documents.
