Fresh anxiety has rippled through Gurugram’s migrant community following the police’s announcement of a special verification drive aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented Bangladeshi nationals.
Despite explicit assurances from law enforcement that the exercise will not involve the detention centers that triggered widespread trauma and chaos during the July 2025 crackdown, hundreds of workers, primarily Bengali-speaking migrants, have already begun fleeing the city in a state of panic.
Sources indicate that inflammatory and misleading messages circulating in community-specific social media groups are fueling fears that history is repeating itself.
This has sent shockwaves through Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), which are now scrambling to engage with domestic help and sanitation staff to clear the air.
With a significant portion of the city’s waste collection and household support staff hailing from this vulnerable migrant community, officials fear that if the panic-driven flight accelerates, Gurugram could once again face a debilitating sanitation and domestic services crisis.
Seeking to quell the unrest, a Gurugram Police spokesperson emphasised a shift in strategy, stating: “There will be no detention centers, unlike the previous year. Instead, identity documents will be verified in coordination with state governments, and employers will be tasked with monitoring their staff during the process."
The department has also issued a stern warning against rumor-mongers, promising strict legal action against anyone spreading misinformation.
While the police maintain that the campaign is a necessary measure for national security and that “no legitimate citizen or legally residing foreign national will be subjected to any inconvenience," the gap between official communication and migrant perception remains wide.
The worst-hit are sanitation workers, primarily door-to-door garbage collectors. The local contractors have been asked to talk to them and explain the real situation so that they are not misled by rumors and flee.
Last year, the verification drive resulted in mass detentions, with reports of police raids in plainclothes and arbitrary questioning of residents.
The sudden enforcement actions led to a climate of fear, with thousands of workers leaving their homes and jobs overnight, fearing deportation or harassment.
That exodus caused a severe collapse in civic services, leaving the city drowning in waste for weeks as the primary workforce responsible for door-to-door sanitation vanished.
