Kolkata | West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday unveiled a two-pronged border security push, initiating the transfer of a 27-km stretch of land to the BSF for long-pending fencing projects and operationalising a broader "detect, delete and deport" mechanism targeting infiltrators.

Addressing a press conference at Nabanna alongside senior BSF officials, Adhikari said land would be transferred within two weeks, describing it as the beginning of a larger border security infrastructure for securing the India-Bangladesh frontier.

At the same event, he also announced the implementation of a mechanism under which infiltrators detained by police would be handed over directly to the BSF, asserting that communities not covered under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would face detention and deportation under a process coming into force with immediate effect.

Adhikari described the framework as "detect, delete and deport" of infiltrators while explaining the mechanism, signalling a sharper policy turn on border management and illegal immigration -- themes long central to the BJP's political messaging in Bengal and now among the earliest markers of governance under the new dispensation.

"As a beginning, the land required to secure the 27-km stretch is being provided to the BSF. Our citizens and officials will complete the process and extend all cooperation in the coming days," he said.

Implementing promises made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to seal the country's porous borders with Bangladesh and curb illegal cross-border migration, the Adhikari cabinet, in its very first meeting on May 11, approved beginning the process of transferring land to the BSF.

Adhikari claimed that the Centre had urged the previous government to transfer land for border fencing, but the request was turned down.

"The safety and security of our great nation is facing a dangerous situation. Whatever land the state government can provide, wherever fencing and security are in question, will be given to the BSF," he said.

In a significant administrative exercise, 43 acres of purchased land across five districts and sanction orders for 31.9 acres of vested land were handed over to the BSF in the presence of Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal.

"We will be present as key witnesses during the handover," Adhikari said while speaking about the transfer process involving land.

BSF Director General Praveen Kumar welcomed the initiative and stressed the need for closer coordination between the force and the state administration.

"We wanted this for fencing and infrastructure for synergy with the state government. We have seen a change, and we are sure we will find this synergy with the state government," Kumar said.

Adhikari alleged the previous government had withheld land sought by the BSF due to "appeasement politics" and vote-bank electoral calculations.

West Bengal shares a 2,217 km border with Bangladesh out of a total of 4,096.7 km Indo-Bangladesh border.

Adhikari said around 1,600 km in Bengal had already been fenced while nearly 600 km remained uncovered.

He alleged that land for nearly 555 km of the unfenced portion could have been transferred earlier, but was held back by the TMC government due to "political reasons".

The chief minister also sought to frame infiltration not merely as a border issue but as a wider law-and-order challenge.

"In issues related to law and order, love jihad, forced religious conversion and crimes concerning women's safety, a large section of those arrested are infiltrators from Bangladesh," he claimed.

"A letter had been sent by the Centre on May 14 last year regarding direct handover of infiltrators to the BSF, but the previous government failed to implement this important provision. We are now enforcing it with immediate effect," he said.

"On one hand, the previous government opposed the CAA, and on the other, did not use this important provision. Today we are implementing it," he added.

Seeking to distinguish between refugees and infiltrators, Adhikari apparently referred to provisions under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

"Under the CAA, communities covered under the law and those who came till December 31, 2024, are protected, and police cannot detain them," he said.

The communities covered under the citizenship law include Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled alleged religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before the prescribed cut-off date of December 31, 2014.

"Those who are not covered under the CAA will be treated as infiltrators. State police will detain and hand them over to the BSF. The BSF will speak to the BGB and take necessary steps to deport them," Adhikari said.

Last year, the Union government issued a gazette notification under provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, creating operational exemptions and mechanisms in specific situations.

The notification stated that communities covered under CAA fleeing religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entering India before December 31, 2024, would not face deportation or prosecution.

Adhikari also alleged that coordination among the BSF, state police and district administration in bordering areas did not take place in the last several years but has "now been revived".

Union minister and prominent Matua face Shantanu Thakur welcomed the move.

"People who have come from across the border need to take citizenship. The government has made provisions for granting citizenship, and instead of applying for it, those who are sitting silently should understand that this is being done to bring everyone into the system. Everyone should apply under CAA and take citizenship," he said.