Widespread Concern Over Police Brutality in Bengaluru

Allegations that thousands of migrant workers who speak Bengali are being unlawfully arrested, beaten, and forced to prove their citizenship have sparked a huge issue in Bengaluru. In a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on August 13, senior Congress politician and former Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury noted that Muslim Indian residents of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district are subject to arbitrary harassment because of ‘mistaken identity’. According to Mr. Chowdhury, at least nine police stations, including Parappana Agrahara, Bandepalya, and Hebbagodi, have held around 955 people, including women and children. There have also been cases of serious physical abuse, like the beating of a 30-year-old young man by police in Varthur.

On August 12, Union Home Minister Amit Shah received a letter from Trinamool Congress MP Abu Taher Khan criticising the situation. Mr. Khan stated that nearly 1,900 migrant workers are stranded across areas like Whitefield, pointing out an incident where plainclothes men entered a Thubarahalli slum and assaulted West Bengal Migrant Workers Union leader Jabbara for demanding identification. Mr. Khan requested the Center to ensure the workers’ safety and set up special helplines, claiming that these activities violate Supreme Court directives, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and constitutional restrictions.

Civil rights organisations including PUCL, AILAJ, DWRU, and AICCTU have all responded negatively to the crackdown. Police entered slums, disregarded legitimate identity documents, physically mistreated workers, and illegally seized cell phones to review private messages and call logs, according to rights organisations who accused law enforcement of flagrant human rights crimes.