TMC MP from Murshidabad Yusuf Pathan on Sunday visited the residence of a migrant labourer from Beldanga whose unnatural death in Jharkhand earlier this week triggered mob violence in the West Bengal town and pledged his support to the victim's family.
Pathan met the parents of 30-year-old Alauddin Sheikh, whose body was found hanging at his shelter in the neighbouring state and brought to his native village in Beldanga on Friday.
"I strongly deplore the harassment and attacks on poor Bengali-speaking migrant workers from Murshidabad and other parts of Bengal who go outside the state in search of livelihood," Pathan told reporters after meeting the family.
"Our party, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and other MPs and MLAs are taking up the issue with the administration of respective states. We are also flagging the issue regularly. I am pledging my support to the victim families," he said.
Responding to opposition allegations that he had failed to visit families of migrant workers who were allegedly killed or harassed in other states, Pathan dismissed the charge as "propaganda".
"It is an attempt by the opposition to mislead people. I have been constantly monitoring every case. I have been constantly monitoring every case, and our supremo Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are getting regular feedback," he said.
He said the district administration set up helpline numbers for migrant workers working outside Bengal and called upon them to contact the administration if they faced any trouble.
Armed state police personnel, accompanied by Rapid Action Force, conducted route marches in violence-hit Beldanga in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Sunday, even as shops were closed and roads wore a deserted look following back-to-back road blockades, stone pelting and assault on journalists on two consecutive days.
Murshidabad SP Kumar Sunny Raj monitored the situation as police personnel patrolled the town's main roads and bylanes and fanned out into nearby villages where an eerie calm prevailed.
A senior police officer said strict vigil was being maintained to prevent any gathering or assembly of people on main thoroughfares and bylanes.
A day earlier, Abhishek Banerjee had said at a meeting in the district that Pathan would visit the family of Alauddin Sheikh.
Banerjee also said he had taken up the matter with the Jharkhand Chief Minister’s Office, seeking a probe into the incident and action against those responsible for the migrant worker’s death.
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