A late-night altercation over a bidi turned fatal for a 30-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, triggering political allegations and a police denial of any communal or identity-based motive.

Juel Sheikh, who had come from West Bengal for work, was employed at a construction site in Shanti Nagar under the Ainthapalli police station area.

According to police, on Wednesday night, Juel and a few co-workers were returning from work when a group of six men stopped them and asked for a bidi. What began as a brief exchange soon escalated into an argument and then a scuffle.

Police said Juel was assaulted during the clash and suffered severe injuries. He was taken to the Sambalpur hospital, where he died during treatment.

“We have arrested all six accused persons. We are investigating the case,” IGP (Northern Range) Himansu Kumar Lal told PTI.

The incident quickly took on a political dimension, with West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress alleging that the killing was driven by suspicion that the victim was an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.

In a post on X, the party said, “The lynching of a Bengali migrant worker in Sambalpur is the direct outcome of @BJP4India’s sustained campaign against Bengalis. A citizen of India was beaten to death because a mob believed the lie that Bengalis are infiltrators who must constantly prove their right to exist.”

The TMC also claimed, “For years, BJP leaders have deliberately branded Bengali-speaking Indians as infiltrators, outsiders, and suspects. That poisonous narrative has now reached the streets, where anyone feels empowered to act as immigration officers and executioners.”

In another post, the party said, “His death is part of a disturbing pattern where Bengali migrant workers are increasingly subjected to suspicion, harassment, and violence in @BJP4India-ruled states, simply for their language and identity. We have been raising this issue relentlessly, warning about the dangerous consequences of branding innocent Bengali migrant workers as suspects. Yet the violence continues, unchecked and unanswered. How many more lives will be lost before this inhuman campaign of hate by the BJP is stopped?"

Trinamool Congress leqader Shashi Panja said in a press conference on Thursday, "The person who died, is his life going to come back? The Bharatiya Janata Party should give answer to this."

Police, however, rejected the allegation. Asked about the claims made by the TMC, the IGP said the murder has nothing to do with whether the “victim was a Bengali or Bangladeshi”.