Kolkata: Eight construction workers from Nadia, engaged by a Chhattisgarh-based private construction agency to work in Bastar's Kondagaon, had been "kidnapped" by Chhattisgarh police on July 12 and put in Jagdalpur prison, Trinamool's Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra alleged on Monday.
Moitra said the workers' phones were switched off and the families had lost contact with them. The MP said these extra-judicial detentions took place despite the eight having valid Aadhaar and EPIC cards.
In a statement on X, Moitra said: "They have been sent to prison under 128 BNSS, earlier 109 CrPC, which allows cops to act if they suspect anyone is hiding to avoid committing a cognizable offence. But the legal provisions stipulated have been completely ignored, no hearings were given. The police detained them on July 12, and now they are in prison.
"She added that she had spoken to Y Akshay Kumar, the Kondagaon SP. Moitra said the SP — who is from Andhra and working in Chhattisgarh — could not respond to her queries.
Moitra also posted the police verification reports of the eight detainees. Officers from Nadia's Thanarpara police station, under whose jurisdiction the eight live, have testified that they checked the EPIC and Aadhaar cards of all eight workers, and they were all Indian citizens. "Which law allows police to detain people who are Indian citizens to work anywhere in India?" the MP said.