The Ghaziabad police department is facing intense scrutiny after a video surfaced showing a senior officer allegedly using a smartphone to “verify” the citizenship of residents in a slum cluster. The incident, which occurred on December 23, 2025, has been widely condemned as an act of intimidation against internal migrants from Bihar.
In the footage, an officer—identified by sources as the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kaushambi—is seen placing a mobile phone on the back of a 76-year-old man and declaring that the “machine” identified him as being “from Bangladesh.”
Intimidation During “Routine” Security Checks
The incident took place in the Bihari Market area during what officials called an “area domination exercise” ahead of Christmas and New Year. The exercise included personnel from the Kaushambi police station and the Rapid Action Force (RAF).
Key details from the viral footage:
- The “Lie Detector” Claim: The officer is heard telling the family, “Don’t tell a lie; we have a machine that can detect a lie.”
- Documentation Disregarded: A 22-year-old woman and a minor girl are seen showing digital copies of their identity documents on a phone, asserting they are natives of Araria, Bihar.
- Family’s Plight: Mohammad Saddique, the man featured in the video, has lived in Ghaziabad since 1987. A fish-seller by profession, Saddique alleged that despite showing “all required proof,” the officers remained unconvinced and continued the intimidation.
Official Response and Inquiry
DCP (Trans-Hindon) Nimish Patil confirmed that an inquiry has been initiated to investigate the conduct of the officers involved.
“It was only an area domination exercise… It was during this that the video surfaced, and an inquiry has been ordered, which has been assigned to the ACP of the Indirapuram circle,” DCP Patil stated.
While senior officials have unofficially identified the officer in the video as the local SHO, the department has withheld his name pending the results of the ACP-level probe. “Area domination” is a standard policing tactic meant to ensure public order and deter crime, but critics argue this specific instance was used to harass a vulnerable community based on linguistic or regional profiles.
Growing Concerns Over Vigilantism
The incident has reignited concerns about the profiling of residents in slum clusters. Legal experts point out that there is no technology or smartphone app authorized by the Ministry of Home Affairs that can instantly “detect” a person’s nationality by touch. The family’s claim that they were targeted despite possessing valid documents has led to calls from activists for stricter accountability regarding how security exercises are conducted in low-income neighborhoods.