Five migrants from Murshidabad, who had gone to Uttar Pradesh to work at a construction project, were detained on Saturday by police in Mathura on suspicion of being Bangladeshi infiltrators, but swift intervention by Murshidabad police ensured their release within hours.
The Indian citizenship of the workers — Nur Islam Mia, 20, and Saidul Islam, 19, from Islampur, and Golam Rasool, 25, Raihan Sheikh, 24, and Sohel Rana, 20, from Bhagabangola — was verified through official documentation.
The five were picked up by Govind Nagar police in Mathura on Saturday morning when they resting at a park after working overnight.
Informed, panicky family members contacted Islampur and Bhagabangola police.
The matter was swiftly brought to the notice of Murshidabad's SP Kumar Sunny Raj, who in turn contacted his counterpart in Mathura.
Acting on SP Raj's orders, the local police collected and sent over to Mathura documents proving the Indian nationality of the five, who were released on Saturday night. Currently, they are in Mathura, awaiting train reservations to return home, sources said.
Lalgola TMC MLA Md Ali said harassment of Indian Muslims from Bengal "in most BJP-ruled states" began last August after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh and increased after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
SP Raj added: "There have been several such incidents recently. Seven workers from Domkal, detained by Mumbai police on suspicion of being infiltrators, were freed after citizenship documents were verified by Murshidabad police. Nine workers from Beldanga, detained by Deoria police in Uttar Pradesh were also freed after document verification."