Odisha: Migrant labourer from Bengal labelled Bangladeshi, lynched in Sambalpur; probe on
Odisha: According to police, the victim was identified as Juel Sheikh, who was a native of West Bengal. Six accused have been arrested and a probe is underway.
A migrant labourer was beaten to death Odisha's Sambalpur district by six men after they accused him of being Bangladeshi, said officials. The incident happened on Wednesday night and the victim has been identified as Juel Sheikh, who used to work at a construction site in Shanti Nagar.
According to police, Sheikh was a native of West Bengal. On Wednesday night, he and some other migrant workers were preparing their food when the six men approached them and asked for a bidi. The workers denied after which they were asked to show their Aadhaar cards.
This led to a brawl between them during which Sheikh was hit on the head. He was taken a hospital, where he died during the treatment, the police said, adding that the six accused have been arrested.
"What has happened in Sambalpur is inhuman and there are no two views on this. As soon as the police received information, we immediately sprung into action and in less than 24 hours, all six accused have been arrested," Odisha Directorate General of Police (DGP) Yogesh Bahadur Khurania told reporters on Thursday.
Sheikh's friends narrate the ordeal
Majhar Khan, who is also a migrant worker from West Bengal, alleged that the accused asked them to show their Aadhaar cards. When denied, they started assaulting them, fatally injuring Sheikh, he said.
"The miscreants first asked bidi from us and then asked me to show our Aadhaar cards. Later, they rammed Juel Sheikh’s head against a hard object," Khan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
However, Inspector General of Police (Northern Range) Himanshu Kumar Lal has said that the murder has nothing to do with whether the "victim was a Bengali or a Bangladeshi". According to the police, Sheikh and other migrants have been living in the area for past few years and a probe is underway.
TMC lambasts BJP
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Odisha government and said that the saffron party is 'deliberately' branding Bengali Indians as 'infiltrators'. In an X post, the party said BJP's 'poisonous narrative' has now reached the streets and people feel they can act as 'executioners'.
"The lynching of a Bengali migrant worker in Sambalpur is the direct outcome of BJP's sustained campaign against Bengalis. A citizen of India was beaten to death because a mob believed the lie that Bengalis are infiltrators who must constantly prove their right to exist," it said.