Border States flag illegal migrants on voter rolls, use of drones, apps by smugglers

At the first-ever conference of police chiefs from districts sharing borders with neighbouring countries, the States flagged several key concerns, including the presence of illegal migrants on electoral rolls despite the special revision of voter lists in Assam, the alleged misuse of the Nepal border by radical elements to reach Punjab, and the use of applications such as WhatsApp, Skred, and Zangi for arms and narcotics smuggling across the Pakistan border, a senior government official told The Hindu.

The migration of people from border villages is also an area of concern. “Border villages cannot only comprise border-guarding forces and police. The emptying out of villages due to lack of infrastructure and job opportunities was flagged and several initiatives such as the Vibrant Villages Programme were listed,” said another government official.

On July 9, Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the first-ever Land Border Districts’ Superintendents of Police Conference 2026. The meeting was attended by SPs of 119 border districts. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director of the Intelligence Bureau Mahesh Dixit, and Directors General of Police of 17 States and Union Territories that share land borders with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, and Myanmar were present at the conference.

Assam Police gave a presentation regarding a case where illegal migrants from Bangladesh were able to get birth certificates and other identity documents and made their way to the electoral roll.

“The case study said that an illegal migrant from Bangladesh entered the country and arrived at a mosque in Assam. He was provided a forged school-leaving certificate and was even allotted parents (to prove lineage). Passports and voter cards followed, and he went to another city to work. Despite the forged identity, he escaped scrutiny and his name was not excluded from the electoral roll,” the official said.

Unlike all other States, the special intensive revision of electoral rolls was not undertaken in Assam, as the final National Register of Citizens, unique to the State, which was prepared in 2019, is yet to be published. More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were excluded from the register. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on February 18, 2026, had said that the special revision of electoral rolls was designed to include eligible voters and exclude those who are not eligible.

At the conference, Mr. Shah said that information on demographic changes in border areas driven by “abnormal” factors such as illegal migration should be communicated from the grassroots to the highest levels at the earliest.

The increase in usage of drones along the Pakistan border to drop weapons and narcotics was flagged at the meeting. It was suggested that more drone laboratories be made operational to forensically study and analyse the path of the unmanned aerial objects sent from Pakistan, said the official.

“The use of encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Skred and Zangi by criminals and terror groups operating from across the border was also raised at the meeting. One of the officers said that the apps were difficult to break into,” said the official.

In all, there were five sessions at the conference covering transborder terrorism, insurgency and organised crime, challenges in border guarding, financial crimes and illegal flow of funds, changes in demography and habitation patterns in the border belt, and community engagement for border development.

“The change of demography in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district was highlighted. So was the mushrooming of mosques along the Pakistan border in Rajasthan. A police officer noted how the open Nepal border was being misused by pro-Khalistani people to enter Punjab and create trouble in the State,” said the official.

Another government official said that States have been asked to submit their suggestions by December and the quadrangular security grid, which involves border communities and the local police, will be finalised in the next one and a half years.