Calcutta High Court on Friday sought a report by July 16 on the alleged deportation to Bangladesh of six migrants from Bengal, three of them minors, after they were purportedly detained by Delhi police.
The court was hearing two habeas corpus petitions on the six migrants, all residents of Muraroi in Birbhum.
The division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra instructed Bengal chief secretary Manoj Kumar Pant to contact the Union home ministry and seek details about the alleged deportation.
It granted Pant four days (till the next hearing on Wednesday) to file a report before the court, based on information received from Amit Shah’s ministry.
One of the petitioners, Bodhu Sheikh, claims his daughter Sonali Khatun, son-in-law Danish Sheikh and their minor son were detained by Delhi police and deported
to Bangladesh.
The other petitioner, Aamir Khan, has alleged his daughter Sweety Biwi and two minor grandsons shared a similar fate.
On Thursday, in response to a petition on the allegedly unlawful detention of migrant workers from Bengal by Odisha police, the same bench had directed Pant to appoint an officer, not below the rank of secretary, to contact the Odisha government and investigate the claims. Thursday’s order had asked the chief secretary to submit a report by Monday.
“Today’s allegation is more serious. The state must seek a report from the Union home ministry,” Justice Chakraborty said after hearing advocate Raghunath Chakraborty.
Chakraborty had told the court that six Bengali-speaking individuals had been labelled Bangladeshis by the Delhi police and deported to Bangladesh.
Appearing for the Bengal government, advocate Biswabrata Basu Mallik said: “The state too suspects that Bengali-speaking migrant labourers are being subjected to serious torture by police in various states. There is concern that some of them may have been deported to Bangladesh by the Delhi government.”
At Thursday’s hearing, too, state counsel Kalyan Banerjee had acknowledged that the Bengal government had received complaints from migrant labourers in other states about being tortured.
After hearing Basu Mallik on Friday, Justice Chakraborty said: “At this stage, the state should immediately talk to the Union home ministry. This is a matter of grave concern…. We want to know the details of the incidents.”
In its order, the court asked six questions, including whether the six individuals had been detained by the Delhi police and what their current status was.
Advocate Dhiraj Trivedi, appearing for the Bengal government, assured the court that he too would contact the Union home ministry and inform the court.
The issue has taken a political turn, prompting Trinamool and BJP leaders to trade charges.
The BJP’s Bengal co-minder Amit Malviya claimed on social media that 335 of 444 migrant workers detained in Odisha had fake documents, allegedly issued by the Bengal government.
“TMC is flooding India with Bangladeshi infiltrators — who work in other states but return to Bengal just to vote for Mamata Banerjee,” Malviya posted.
“Every state must be extremely cautious while hiring labour or employees carrying fake Bengal-issued documents. This is not just a demographic threat, it’s a national security concern.”
Samirul Islam, a Trinamool Rajya Sabha member and chairperson of the state migrant workers’ welfare board, challenged Malviya to provide proof.
“After Calcutta High Court’s order, BJP-ruled Odisha released most of the Bengali-speaking migrant workers from custody. If they were truly Bangladeshis, why were they released?” Islam asked.
He alleged the BJP was spreading falsehood after suffering a setback in court.
“It has been proven that seven Indian citizens — residents of our state — were pushed into Bangladesh. The BSF held flag meetings with their Bangladeshi counterparts and brought them back,” he said.
“We are hopeful that the court will soon ensure the return of the six Birbhum residents as well.”
Seven migrant workers detained by Maharashtra police had last month been handed over to the BSF, which mistakenly pushed them into Bangladesh, presuming they were foreign nationals. However, following immense pressure, the BSF eventually returned them to their homes.
On Friday, the SUCI-affiliated All India Migrant Workers’ Association demanded state government intervention towards the release of 27 migrant labourers from Bengal detained in Jharsuguda, Odisha.
It demanded a dedicated portal for migrant labourers and identity cards to help avert such harassment in future.
Additional reporting by Subhasish Chaudhuri