Kolkata, 9 July (H.S.):
The Calcutta High Court has been approached seeking urgent intervention into the alleged illegal detention and deportation of migrant workers from West Bengal in Delhi and Odisha under the suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. A habeas corpus petition was filed on Tuesday, and the matter was heard on Wednesday by a division bench comprising Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Ritabrata Kumar Mitra.
The bench noted that a case regarding similar incidents in Odisha is already pending and that the recent developments in Delhi will be merged with the existing matter. A detailed hearing is expected to take place on Friday.
According to the petition, six migrant workers from Paikar village in Birbhum district were detained by Delhi Police on June 18 from the K.N. Katju Marg area of Rohini. The workers reportedly managed to call their families, informing them that they had been picked up on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and urged their families to come and secure their release.
However, when family members reached Delhi, they were informed that the workers had already been handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and “pushed back” across the border. Authorities did not disclose through which district this alleged deportation took place. Concerned family members subsequently contacted West Bengal’s Labour Department.
State Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of the West Bengal State Welfare Board, Sameerul Islam, confirmed that legal recourse had been taken to ensure the safe return of the detained workers. “We moved the High Court to demand clarity and action. These detentions are deeply disturbing,” he stated.
This is not an isolated incident. Several similar cases have been reported from Odisha, involving migrant workers from Malda, Murshidabad, and Birbhum districts. The families of those detained raised concerns after losing contact for several days. In response, West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant had written to his counterpart in Odisha. While some of the detained workers were reportedly released and returned, the status of all detainees remains unclear.
A separate incident from Gujarat has also surfaced. Sheikh Mojammel, a migrant worker from Sansat village in Bolpur, Birbhum, who was working in Surat, was allegedly held by Gujarat Police for several hours on Sunday without any formal charges. His family contacted Birbhum district police, following which he was released on Tuesday evening.
These repeated detentions have sparked growing concern in West Bengal over the treatment of its migrant labourers in other states and the recurring allegations of being falsely identified as illegal immigrants.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
