7 Malda workers branded as Bangladeshis, pushed back

The Trinamul Congress has slammed the BJP for targeting Bengalis, who were from Chanchal II block in Malda

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Even as two migrant labourers from Chanchal II block in Malda, Sayed Ali and Laltu Hossain, managed to secure their release from police custody in Haryana, a far more disturbing episode has emerged from neighbouring Harishchandrapur in the same district.

According to family members and local sources, seven Bengali-speaking migrant workers, including two Hindus, were arrested by Gurugram police in BJP-ruled Haryana and allegedly handed over to the BSF to be pushed into Bangladesh, despite possessing valid Indian identity documents.

The detainees—Azmal Hossain, Lokman Ali, Usman Ali, Manirul Islam, Sadikul Islam, Posen Das, and Abhijit Das—are all residents of Thakurtola in Rangipur under Harishchandrapur police station in Malda. They had migrated to Haryana to work as construction labourers but were picked up by police allegedly on the suspicion of being "illegal Bangladeshis".