Abhishek meets grieving family of Purulia migrant killed in Pune
Times of India | 14 February 2026
Purulia: Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday met the grieving kin of 30-year-old migrant worker Sukhen Mahato, who was found brutally murdered in Pune on Feb 10.
Banerjee said Maharashtra Police should ensure the culprits are punished or "give the case to Bengal Police, who can solve it in 50 days". Referring to TMC's xenophobia charge, he said: "We do not politicise deaths. But we do see a dangerous pattern in people being repeatedly attacked in BJP-governed states for speaking Bengali."
Speaking to reporters after meeting the family, Banerjee said, "As per CM Mamata Banerjee's directives, the Bengal administration will coordinate with Maharashtra and Koregaon Bhima. We have seen that in BJP-governed states, people get bail even after being accused of rape, murder and kidnapping."
Referring to reports of Pune Police arresting a suspect, Banerjee said they will ensure that the family received all legal support. "Per our information, more people are involved in this. All of them must be identified. I have promised the family that if needed, along with 3–4 TMC MLAs, some family members will be sent to Maharashtra. If the accused are not arrested after Feb 25 and if the trial is not started in time, we will not hesitate to send our delegation as many times as required," he said.
Banerjee also promised a job to Sukhen's elder brother, Tulsiram, who also works in Pune. He returned home with Sukhen's body in an ambulance on Friday. "I do not want to go there for work. Today it was my brother; tomorrow if it is me, who will look after the family?" he said.
However, he strongly denied that his brother had previous enmity with anyone. "You cannot stay in your own village if you keep fighting; this (Pune) is a far-flung place," Tulsiram said, adding that he was unaware of what led to the murder — xenophobia or a drunken brawl.
Banerjee said the reason for Sukhen's death was a matter of investigation. "A few days ago, some youths from Raghunathpur in Purulia were harassed in Chhattisgarh. In Odisha, at least 6–7 people have been tortured. An ST youth was branded as a Bangladeshi in Odisha. People have been tortured in Haryana as well," he added.
Purulia BJP MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato did not directly reiterate BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya's charge that the "criminal case stemmed from intoxicated aggression, not as a communal or linguistic conflict". Malviya maintained that "it was a tragic but a localised clash, not a hate crime". Jyotirmoy alleged that "CCTV footage shows unusual behavior leading to the death".
"The person arrested is Amin Ali Sheikh. The family has alleged that Bajrang Dal activists were behind the murder. There is nothing to prove that Sheikh was with Bajrang Dal. I, too, want capital punishment for the accused," Jyotirmoy said.