Bengal man tagged ‘illegal immigrant’ by Assam, state steps in
Times of India | 7 July 2025
12 Jalpaiguri: Bengal govt assured help to a Cooch Behar resident who received an NRC notice from Assam govt in Jan, accusing him of having entered India illegally from Bangladesh.
The assurance came after Uttam Kumar Brajabashi (50) reached out to North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha on Sunday after he was given until July 15 to prove his citizenship.
Brajabashi said he had never left Cooch Behar in his life. But in Jan this year, he got a notice from the local police that alleged that Assam govt had identified him as an illegal immigrant who entered India through the Assam border between 1966 and 1971, and had been residing in Dinhata. The notice claimed that Brajabashi could not present valid documents during police verification.
His lawyer, Apurba Sinha, said Assam govt started the NRC case in 2015, but the letter reached the office of the Cooch Behar district SP nine years later, in Dec 2024.
Sinha questioned how Assam could send an NRC-related letter to the district SP in Bengal when Bengal govt does not recognise NRC.
According to the lawyer, Assam govt has demanded proof of his name on the voter list since he became an eligible voter but neither the district nor state administration have been able to provide the documents.
On learning of the incident, minister Guha, who is also the Dinhata MLA, said, "Brajabashi is not only an Indian citizen but also a scheduled caste citizen. On what grounds did the SP of Kamrup district (in Assam) send an NRC-related letter to a citizen of Dinhata in Cooch Behar. This will not be tolerated here.
"Uttam Kumar Brajabashi's lawyer questioned how Assam govt could send a letter on NRC to the district SP in Bengal when Bengal govt does not recognise NRC