6 Bengalis detained as ‘B’deshis’ in UP, freed later
Times of India | 6 May 2025
Behrampore: Six Bengal residents, who were detained by police in UP's Deoria on Monday noon on suspicion of being Bangladesh nationals, were later released after intervention by the Murshidabad SP and other senior district officials.
Among the six, five villagers are from Beldanga in Murshidabad, while another is from Krishnaganj, Nadia. Police said they would start for their homes on Tuesday.
A police officer said they came to know around noon that six persons — including two drivers — from Beldanga were detained by UP Police. They were travelling in a bus bearing a Bengal number plate. Suspecting them to be Bangladeshi, cops detained them and took them to Lar police station. "As soon as Murshidabad SP Kumar Sunny Raj was informed, he contacted UP officials and arranged for their release," the officer added.
Din Muhammad, a relative of one of those detained, said they contacted the Beldanga IC as they had been told to inform the local police if anyone faced any trouble travelling outside Bengal. "The proactive role of police helped," he added.
Samirul Islam, Trinamool MP and chairman of West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board, claimed there was regular harassment of Bengali-speaking people in many BJP-governed states, suspecting them to be Bangladeshis.
"This must stop because if one speaks Bengali it does not mean that he is a Bangladeshi. Today's incident showed that even after the six villagers showed their photo ID cards, they were not released. Our CM Mamata Banerjee has already written to Centre on the issue," Islam said.