The Gujarat Police detained 362 undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants and questioned more than 782 suspected foreign nationals during a State-wide crackdown under “Operation Delta Hunt” launched on Tuesday (June 2, 2026) night and continued into early Wednesday.The development comes days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Gandhinagar that illegal infiltrators would be identified and deported.The operation was carried out across Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara and several other parts of the State. Officials said it is an ongoing operation with more raids in the offing. According to the State government, those detained so far include 103 men, 188 women and 71 children.In Ahmedabad alone, around 300 suspected Bangladeshi nationals were rounded up during the drive. Of them, 155 have so far been confirmed as Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India, including 41 men, 95 women and 30 children. Surat accounted for 84 detentions, followed by Ahmedabad Rural with 34, East Kutch-Gandhidham with 13 and Bharuch with 12.Speaking to The Hindu, Ahmedabad Crime Branch Joint Commissioner of Police Sharad Singhal said the operation was planned following a high-level meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi, during which officials reviewed inputs regarding illegal Bangladeshi immigration into Gujarat.Police said more than 30 teams comprising personnel from the Crime Branch, the Special Operations Group (SOG) and local police stations in Naroda, Danilimda, Vatva, Vatva GIDC and Juhapura were deployed.They said several detained women were allegedly working in spas, while many of the men were employed as labourers or involved in rag-picking. Some were found to have entered India only a few months ago, while others had allegedly been residing in the State for several years.Preliminary investigations revealed that some detainees had fraudulently obtained Aadhaar cards and other identity documents.“Interrogations are underway to determine how they managed to obtain these documents, how money was transferred, what kind of work they were engaged in, and the routes used to enter the country illegally,” officials said.Authorities said the detained individuals would be shifted to the Joint Integration Centre in Naroda, following which deportation proceedings would be initiated as per established protocols.‘Zero tolerance’Mr. Sanghavi said the operation reflected the State government’s “zero tolerance” policy towards illegal immigration and threats to national security. “Every infiltrator residing illegally in Gujarat will be identified, proceeded against under the law and sent back to Bangladesh,” he said.The Minister added that the police are also probing local agents and facilitators allegedly involved in providing accommodation, jobs, SIM cards and forged identity documents, including Aadhaar and voter IDs. “Those who have aided illegal stay or forged documentation will face strict legal action,” he said.Mr. Sanghavi expressed confidence that the land allocated by the new Government in West Bengal for Border Security Force (BSF) fencing work along the India-Bangladesh border in the State would further strengthen border security and held prevent illegal infiltration in the future. The operation was coordinated, with simultaneous raids across cities and checkpoints set up at bus stations, railway stations, highways and key exit routes to prevent escape attempts. Officials said around 18 suspected infiltrators trying to flee were intercepted during the operation.Investigators have also found that some detainees entered India through different villages and regions of West Bengal two to four years ago or even earlier, and later obtained local documents through intermediaries before securing official identity papers. The wider network behind this is under investigation.Director General of Police Dr K.L.N. Rao said the operation was driven by technical intelligence and field verification. Telecom analysis, supported by the Cyber Centre of Excellence, helped create a database of Indian mobile numbers that had communicated with Bangladeshi numbers.This led to the identification of more than 6,200 suspected individuals, enabling field units to take coordinated action against illegal networks, he said.Officials said the Operation Delta Hunt will continue across Gujarat in the coming days, with further verification, detentions and deportation proceedings expected. They said the Ahmedabad police had deported 465 Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in the city last year.