As city police and the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) step up their joint drive to identify illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants in urban slums, two Assam districts nearly 1,500 km away have come into sharp focus: Barpeta and Kamrup.
Officials involved in the verification exercise say a clear pattern has emerged over recent weeks. Most people living in Lucknow’s slums who are under scrutiny claim to be from Barpeta or Kamrup districts in Assam.
While documentation checks continue, the repeated mention of these districts across multiple slum locations has prompted authorities to conduct further investigations.
Teams from Lucknow Police’s five zones and the LMC have been conducting door-to-door surveys in informal settlements in Gudamba, Dubagga, Indira Nagar, Khadra, Para, Bijnour, and areas under the Hazratganj police station. These settlements have long housed migrant labourers working in construction, scrap collection, domestic work, and small manufacturing units.
Senior officials stated that the campaign aims to verify identity documents, track overstayed migrants, and identify individuals living without valid documentation. “During our drive at Aurangabad Jagir locality under Bijnor police station, we found Assam’s Barpeta and Kamrup as a common factor,” said DCP South Nipun Agarwal.
When HT visited Phoolbagh colony, a slum on the city’s northern fringe under Gudamba police station, over 300 people from 70 families were living in shanties. Most said they were from Barpeta or Kamrup.
Afsar Ali, 34, showing his NRC (National Register of Citizens) papers from Assam’s Barpeta, said they came to Lucknow decades ago. “I am the second generation to come to Lucknow. My forefathers are from Assam and have been living there for over 100 years. I have been in Lucknow for the last 14 years now, selling vegetables,” said Ali.
Md Habiz Ali, another Barpeta resident who has lived in Lucknow for 21 years, said, “We moved here for better opportunities and all of us are from the same area in Barpeta.”
Fizoz Ali, from Barpeta, who has worked as a sweeper for five years, said, “We want our local authorities in Barpeta to help verify us soon, otherwise the administration in Lucknow will not let us live.”
“During our recent checks, we found several residents who could not produce any acceptable ID. Interestingly, many cited Barpeta as their native district. This commonality stood out, prompting us to alert our counterparts in Assam,” a senior police officer said. Cross-verification with agencies in Assam is underway to determine whether the individuals belong to Indian families settled in Barpeta or are using the district’s name as cover. The possibility that networks may be coaching illegal immigrants to cite the same location is also being examined.
HT contacted the office of the district commissioner, Barpeta, to check if they had received any communication from Lucknow or UP regarding verification. The personal assistant to the commissioner said no such cross-verification request had been received. “Usually, when verification is done, one state approaches another, after which the verification comes to the DM’s office.”