A 38-year-old migrant worker from Murshidabad, who Mumbai police detained on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi, was allegedly “pushed back” into Bangladesh by the BSF.
Migrant worker Mehebub Sheikh’s younger brother Majibur said they came to know his brother was handed over to the BSF in Siliguri on Friday night but then “disappeared”. He claimed Mehebub was sent to Bangladesh.
Mehebub called up his wife in Murshidabad through an encrypted Internet voice call saying he was in Bangladesh since early Saturday and was badly beaten by the BSF, his brother Majibur alleged.
Mehebub, a resident of Hossainnagar village in Murshidabad’s Bhagawangola, had gone to Mumbai to work as a construction labourer. He was held by cops there on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi, which his family in Murshidabad got to know on June 10.
“We contacted the Mumbai police with documents. Suddenly, on Friday night, I came to know through the panchayat chief that my brother had been handed over to the BSF in Siliguri,”
said Majibur.
The family got in touch with Mumbai police officers, who informed them that Mehebub had been handed over to the BSF in Siliguri on Friday. The police sent them a stamped receipt stating that the BSF had taken custody of Mehebub, a relative claimed.
Mehebub’s family and Mahisasthali gram panchayat chief Sabbir Ahmed went to the BSF headquarters in Siliguri with documents on Saturday. Ahmed said Bhagawangola TMC MLA Reyat Hossain Sarkar informed him that Mumbai police handed over Mehebub to the BSF
in Siliguri.
“The BSF received the complaint and did not deny it took custody of Mehebub from the Mumbai police. We have a copy of the document that the BSF received Mehebub from the Mumbai police. The BSF is not disclosing how he disappeared from their custody,” said Ahmed, adding that the document showed that Mehebub was handed over to the BSF by the Mumbai police on June 13.
“My brother told his wife that some farmers in Bangladesh rescued him. He is so badly injured that he can’t walk. He is now in Bangladesh and doesn’t know what to do without money or a cellphone,” added Mehebub’s bother Majibur. “He is an Indian citizen and a Murshidabad district resident. How could the BSF send him
to Bangladesh?”
Mehebub’s family contacted the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board.
“It is truly unfortunate that the Mumbai police handed him over to the BSF, who then pushed him back to Bangladesh illegally without verifying his documents,” said Samirul Islam, TMC Rajya Sabha member chairman of the migrant workers’ board.
“The state government is taking this matter seriously and is pressuring the BSF to ensure his safe return.... The Mamata Banerjee government stands firmly with migrant workers,” said Islam.
Additional reporting by Avijit Sinha in Siliguri