Three Migrant Workers from Bengal Freed After Assam Detention, Claims TMC MP

Guwahati: Three migrant workers from Murshidabad district in West Bengal, allegedly detained in Assam on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, were released late Sunday night following the intervention of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Samirul Islam claimed on Monday.

Islam, who also chairs the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board, said the workers had been taken into custody in Haibargaon, Nagaon district, after local police overheard them conversing in Bengali. “They had reached Assam on August 22 and were working as hawkers when they were picked up and sent to a detention camp,” he told a national newswire.

The Rajya Sabha MP further alleged that the workers were forced to pay Rs. 1.5 lakh, which was later returned after the state government’s intervention. “Two of the workers hail from Shaktipur, while the third is from Beldanga in Murshidabad,” Islam added.

The TMC leader accused authorities in BJP-ruled states of increasingly targeting migrant workers from West Bengal on flimsy grounds. “The West Bengal government will act swiftly to protect the rights and dignity of its people wherever they go to earn a livelihood,” he asserted.

There was no immediate response from Assam Police regarding the allegations of extortion and wrongful detention.