A 19-year-old labourer from West Bengal’s Murshidabad was lynched in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Wednesday night. Police have arrested six accused in connection with the incident.
The victim, Jewel Sheikh, hailed from Chakbahadurpur village under Suti police station limits and was working in Odisha. His co-workers and family members alleged he was assaulted on suspicion of being an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant. Odisha police, however, denied this and claimed the victim and the accused knew each other.
According to police, the incident occurred in the Shantinagar area late Wednesday evening when Jewel was returning from work.
“We were at a tea stall. A group of people asked for a bidi from Jewel. Then they started asking for Aadhaar cards and wanted to know where we were from. We showed our Aadhaar cards. Suddenly, the group, armed with bamboo sticks, started beating us. Jewel was hit on the head. Some others were injured,” alleged Paltu Sheikh, one of the eight construction workers from Murshidabad working in Odisha.
“We rushed him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. We are now waiting for the post-mortem to be completed, and then we will take the body home. I have worked in Odisha for 12 years. This is the first time we faced such an incident,” Sheikh said.
Two other workers, Akir Sheikh and Palash Sheikh, who sustained injuries in the attack, are at a hospital in Sambalpur.
Sambalpur Additional Superintendent of Police Srimanta Barik said the labourers from West Bengal had been living in the area for several years and had become familiar with the residents there.
“The incident occurred over a demand for a bidi. A group suddenly attacked the Bengali migrant workers after they refused. We have arrested six people and are identifying whether more were involved,” Barik said.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Nagima Bibi, Jewel’s mother, said, “He went to work there as a mason on December 20. He was supposed to work for three months. Now his body will return. We heard from his co-workers that he was beaten badly by goons who called them Bangladeshis. I want justice for my son.”
“We have heard of detentions and assaults of our boys in Odisha, but we thought those were rare incidents. We are poor people. Jewel went there for daily wages of Rs 600,” said Riaqul Haque, his uncle.
Following the incident, the Trinamool Congress asked its leaders to visit the victim’s family. Local TMC leaders and Bengal’s Suti MLA Emani Biswas visited Jewel’s home and promised assistance.
“This is happening non-stop in BJP-ruled Odisha. Illegal detentions, assaults in the name of Bangladeshi identification, and now the lynching of a poor migrant worker. BJP has blood on its hands. We stand with the family, and all help will be provided,” said Samirul Islam, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board.
“The Bengal government should immediately take this up with the Odisha government. This must stop. Compensation should be provided to the family. Not only in Odisha; Bengali migrants are being targeted in different states,” said Asif Faruk, state general secretary of the Parijayi Sramik Aikya Manch (Migrant Workers Unity Forum) in West Bengal.