Urgent intervention for the rescue and repatriation of an Indian citizen illegally expelled to Bangladesh, and initiation of criminal and departmental proceedings against the concerned officials of Maharashtra Police, CID and BSF for illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, extortion, and unlawful deportation
Kirity Roy
29 July 2026
To
The Foreign Secretary
Government of India
Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, Janpath
New Delhi – 110011
&
The Home Secretary
Government of India
Room No. 113, North Block
New Delhi – 110001
&
The Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Nabanna, Howrah
Subject: Urgent intervention for the rescue and repatriation of an Indian citizen illegally expelled to Bangladesh, and initiation of criminal and departmental proceedings against the concerned officials of Maharashtra Police, CID and BSF for illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, extortion, and unlawful deportation
Hon'ble Sir,
I respectfully submit this petition seeking your immediate intervention in an exceptionally grave case involving the illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, extortion, unlawful expulsion of an Indian citizen into Bangladesh, abuse of official authority, and complete denial of constitutional and statutory safeguards by personnel of the Maharashtra Police, CID, and the Border Security Force (BSF).
This case raises serious constitutional, legal, humanitarian, and diplomatic concerns. It demonstrates how an Indian citizen, possessing overwhelming documentary evidence of her nationality, was allegedly treated as a foreign national without any judicial determination and forcibly removed from the territory of India in complete disregard of the Constitution, the laws enacted by Parliament, and binding judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.
According to information received from the victim and her family, CID personnel in Chembur, Maharashtra, have been demanding illegal gratification ranging between Rs. 1.5 lakh and Rs. 2 lakh from detained persons for securing their release. Such allegations, if established, disclose not only abuse of police powers but also serious offences under the criminal law and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The victim, Ms. Sahida Fakir, wife of Mr. Zumman Fakir, is a permanent resident of Village Swarupdaha, Gram Panchayat Bithari Hakimpur, Police Station Swarupnagar, Basirhat Sub-Division, District North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Approximately twenty years ago, she migrated to Mumbai along with her husband in search of livelihood. Since then, she has been earning her livelihood as a domestic worker in various households, while her husband works as a car cleaner.
Ms. Sahida Fakir was born to Mr. Amunuddin Gazi and Mrs. Majida Bibi, residents of Village and Post Office Gobindapur, Police Station Swarupnagar, District North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The names of both her parents appeared in the Electoral Roll of Swarupnagar Assembly Constituency (Part No. 89, Serial Nos. 514 and 515) for the year 2002, conclusively establishing their status as Indian electors.
Her birth was duly registered with Bithari Hakimpur Gram Panchayat under Registration No. 6382 dated 12 October 1995. Her father subsequently died in 2019, and his death was officially registered by the Government of West Bengal under Registration No. 82041 dated 22 January 2019.
Furthermore, Ms. Sahida Fakir possesses numerous official documents issued by competent statutory authorities, including:
- Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) No. YDY0048132;
- Permanent Account Number (PAN) ABIPF5178P issued by the Income Tax Department;
- Registered Birth Certificate issued by the competent authority;
- Government land records showing ownership of immovable property standing in her name in JL No. 49, Khatian No. 4436, Mouza Gunrajpur, Swarupnagar Block.
These official records establish beyond any reasonable doubt that Ms. Sahida Fakir is an Indian citizen possessing legally recognized civil, political, and proprietary rights within India. Although her name was omitted during the latest electoral enumeration, her application challenging such exclusion is presently pending before the competent SIR Tribunal. Such omission cannot, under any law, extinguish or negate her citizenship.
However, on 19 July 2026, while proceeding towards a nearby market in Mumbai during the evening, Ms. Sahida Fakir was intercepted by persons in plain clothes identifying themselves as police personnel. She purchased 6 rotis with vegetables, one pillow which were with her at the time of her arrest. She had a 10 years old boy at home. She was forcibly apprehended and taken to a detention facility where persons suspected of being "illegal foreigners" were reportedly confined. Her phone, food Aadhar card were taken by those officers without receipt.
Without any inquiry conducted by a competent authority, without production of any evidence, without notice, without hearing, and without any judicial determination whatsoever, the police and CID officials arbitrarily branded her as a "Bangladeshi" and deprived her of her liberty.
She was thereafter illegally confined for more than one hundred hours, during which period she was neither produced before a Judicial Magistrate nor informed of the grounds of arrest. She was denied access to legal representation and prevented from communicating with her family members. Such detention is ex facie unconstitutional and constitutes a blatant violation of Articles 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India, which guarantee equality before law, protection of life and personal liberty, and mandatory production before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest.
After approximately five days of unlawful detention, Ms. Sahida Fakir was handed over to the Border Security Force. She was transported to a defence airport and placed on an aircraft that reportedly flew towards North-Eastern India, believed to be either Assam or Tripura. Upon landing, approximately twenty detainees were loaded into a bus, which travelled continuously for seven to eight hours with only brief halts.
Late at night, while still under BSF custody, the detainees were taken to an international border location and forcibly pushed across the border into Bangladesh without any order of a competent court, without deportation proceedings, without consular verification, and without any lawful authority. According to Ms. Sahida Fakir, she ultimately found herself in Feni District, Bangladesh.
Being abandoned in a foreign country without resources, identity, or protection, she wandered helplessly until she was provided temporary shelter on humanitarian grounds by Mr. Md. Abul Bachar, a resident of Village Vadlia, Post Office Sonabere, Police Station Kalaroa, District Satkhira, Bangladesh.
The entire sequence of events demonstrates an extraordinary abuse of executive power. Neither the police nor the BSF possesses any authority under law to declare an Indian citizen to be a foreign national merely on suspicion or profiling. Questions concerning citizenship and nationality are governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Foreigners Act, 1946, and other applicable laws, and any adverse determination affecting personal liberty must necessarily be subject to judicial scrutiny and due process.
The actions complained of are also in direct violation of the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) governing arrest and production before a Magistrate, besides violating the mandatory safeguards laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997) 1 SCC 416, Joginder Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1994) 4 SCC 260, and Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014) 8 SCC 273.
The alleged conduct of the concerned officials also appears to attract offences punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including wrongful confinement, kidnapping or abduction by persons acting under colour of authority, criminal conspiracy, fabrication or misuse of official records, abuse of official position, criminal intimidation, and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, if the allegations regarding extortion and illegal gratification are established upon investigation.
More importantly, the forcible expulsion of an Indian citizen into the territory of another sovereign nation without judicial sanction is not merely an illegal administrative act but an assault upon the rule of law, constitutional governance, and the sovereignty of the Republic of India. Such actions expose innocent citizens to grave danger, statelessness, and irreversible violations of their fundamental human rights.
It is respectfully submitted that I had already addressed representations dated 23 July 2026 to several authorities of the Union Government and the Government of West Bengal. Unfortunately, despite the extreme urgency of the matter, no effective intervention has yet taken place, while an Indian citizen continues to remain stranded in Bangladesh.
In these extraordinary circumstances, immediate intervention by the Union Government and the Government of West Bengal has become indispensable.
In view of the above facts and circumstances, it is most respectfully prayed that your good offices may kindly:
- Immediately secure the location of Ms. Sahida Fakir through diplomatic and administrative channels and ensure her safe repatriation to India without any further delay.
- Order a high-level, independent, impartial and time-bound investigation by an agency independent of the officers complained against into the illegal arrest, unlawful detention, extortion, illegal transfer to BSF custody, and forcible expulsion of Ms. Sahida Fakir into Bangladesh.
- Direct the immediate preservation and seizure of all CCTV footage, General Diary entries, station diaries, arrest records, detention registers, movement registers, airport movement records, flight manifests, passenger lists, BSF logbooks, wireless communications, border deployment records, vehicle GPS records, and all electronic evidence relating to the incident.
- Institute appropriate criminal prosecution and departmental disciplinary proceedings against every police, CID and BSF official found responsible for violating the Constitution and the laws of India.
- Initiate an independent inquiry into the allegations that CID personnel demanded illegal gratification ranging from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh from detainees for securing their release, and prosecute all persons found involved.
- Award adequate monetary compensation to Ms. Sahida Fakir for the illegal deprivation of liberty, unconstitutional detention, unlawful expulsion from her own country, physical suffering, mental trauma, humiliation, and violation of her fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
- Issue binding directions to all State Police agencies and the BSF that no person shall ever be declared a foreign national, detained, transferred, or pushed across the international border without strict adherence to the Constitution, the Citizenship Act, the Foreigners Act, judicial oversight, and the principles of natural justice.
- Frame and implement a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure ensuring that no Indian citizen is ever again subjected to arbitrary profiling, illegal detention, or unlawful deportation merely on suspicion regarding nationality.
- Pass such other order or direction as may be deemed fit, proper, and necessary in the interests of justice, constitutional governance, protection of human rights, and preservation of the rule of law.
The continued abandonment of an Indian citizen in a foreign country despite overwhelming documentary proof of her Indian nationality would constitute a profound failure of constitutional governance. I, therefore, earnestly request your immediate intervention so that Ms. Sahida Fakir is restored to the protection of her own country and those responsible for this grave illegality are held accountable in accordance with law.
Yours faithfully,
(KIRITY ROY)
Secretary
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM)
&
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
40A, Barabagan Lane (4th Floor)
Balaji Place
Shibtala
Srirampur
Hooghly
PIN- 712203
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