Rahul Islam withstood the mob’s punches and kicks. It was when they threatened to set him on fire that he eventually uttered "Jai Shri Ram".
Rahul, 24, a winter-garment seller from Murshidabad, was branded a Bangladeshi and tortured at a village in Ganjam district of Odisha, a state where Muslim migrant workers from Bengal have faced serial police detentions and mob attacks this year.
Two of Rahul’s fellow hawkers, who had accompanied him to Odisha in October to sell winterwear, too were assaulted at different places in Ganjam and Gajapati after being labelled Bangladeshis. All three fled Odisha on Thursday.
Md Ripon, president of the Parijayee Shramik Aikya Mancha and board member, West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Association, brought these hate crimes into the spotlight on Saturday through an email complaint to the Odisha director-general of police.
Ripon has alleged the Odisha police refused to help the victims and told them to leave the state.
"Is it a crime to come to Odisha for work?" Rahul, speaking to The Telegraph from his home at Chak Harekrishnapur in Murshidabad on Saturday, said.
He said he was attacked while visiting Ranipada village on November 24 to sell woollens, mosquito nets and other stuff.
"Suddenly, a man turned up and asked me what I was doing in the village. He abused me, called me a Bangladeshi and demanded to see my Aadhaar card," Rahul said.
"When I showed him my Aadhaar card, he called it a fake. Other people gathered at the spot and began abusing me. One of them asked me to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'," he continued.
"Initially, I was reluctant. They punched and kicked me. When they threatened to douse me with petrol and set me on fire, I chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' out of fear for my life. They then let me go with my wares."
Subas Behera, inspector in charge of the local Kodala police station, said he had no information about any such incident.
Rahul said two of his friends, too, were attacked on November 25 and 26 while selling their stuff, one of them at Chakka Padar in Gajapati and the other at Jagannath Prasad in Ganjam.
Ripon has shared videos of the assault on Rahul, apparently shot and put up on social media by someone from the mob.
His email to the DGP says: “Mukulchand Shaikh, father of Rahul Islam, said they informed the police of your state but they refused to take any action.
“Instead of taking any action they were told to return home and not try to ply their trade in Odisha. Is it illegal to work in another state in India? So they returned home on November 27.”
Earlier this year, many labourers from Bengal faced police harassment in Odisha.
Md Saifuddin Momin, 46, of Mohisasthil in Samserganj, Murshidabad, told this newspaper: “Is it a crime to grow a beard? Is it a crime to go to Odisha to work? These are the questions I want an answer to.”
He said that a few weeks ago, he and fellow labourers from Bengal were detained for three days by Bhadrak police in Odisha on suspicion of being Bangladeshi illegals even after they furnished government documents. They were let go only after the Bengal police confirmed their bona fides.
“I still wonder why the (Odisha) police detained me. It was a horrible experience,” he said.
“I used to work as a rag-picker. Odisha had been a favourite place for work (for people from his area) and was earlier a peaceful place. We enjoyed working there,” he added.
“For the last 20 years, I have been coming and working here. But things started changing after 2024.”
In mid-2024, the BJP wrested power in the state from the BJD.
Mohammed Hasanujjaman, 45, a mason who was detained with Saifuddin, said: “I had worked in Bhadrak since 2017. We don’t know why the police detained us.
“We showed all the documents, including voter I-cards and ration cards. The police even demanded the voter IDs of my parents.”
Saifuddin and Hasanujjaman said the police did not torture them, but added that being confined in a room for interrogation was a kind of torture, too.
“The biggest concern is that people suddenly doubt your integrity and love for the country,” Hasanujjaman said.
Following directives from the Centre, the Odisha police have launched a drive since July to detect illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
More than 500 people from Bengal were rounded up in the districts of Kendrapara, Jharsuguda and Jagatsinghpur, of them 448 in Jharsuguda alone. After a period of intense trauma and anxiety, they had to be released on the strength of their valid documents and identity confirmation by Bengal police.
During the peak of the drive, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra had accused the Odisha government of harassing innocent people and demanding their immediate release.
Reports of mob attacks on alleged Bangladeshis too had poured in from various parts of the state, where an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion about Bengali migrants seemed to be taking root.