Karnataka HC scraps detention of school bus driver accused of being undocumented Bangladeshi migrant

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed the detention order against a school bus driver who was held in Bengaluru after the police alleged that he was an undocumented Bangladeshi migrant, The Indian Express reported.

The order was passed after the Election Commission told the court that the voter identity card issued to Rafikul Biswas during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls was genuine and that his family had been living in India for generations, the newspaper reported.

Biswas was detained in August 2025. He had told Scroll at the time that he was from West Bengal’s Nadia district and had been living in Bengaluru for more than seven years with his wife and daughter. He had stated that the police were threatening to deport him to Bangladesh.

Days after he was detained, Biswas was hospitalised following a heart attack. He was released in December on medical grounds after another cardiac episode.

The 32-year-old had records showing that he is an Indian citizen by birth and was issued a fresh voter identity card in the special intensive revision of Bengal’s electoral rolls. Inquiries conducted by the police and the block development officer in Nadia in October had also found that Biswas is an Indian citizen.

On July 13, the High Court criticised the West Bengal government...

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