The Odisha government on Wednesday informed the Calcutta high court that two migrant workers Sainur Islam and Rakibul Islam had returned to their homes in Bengal.
Odisha Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, appearing virtually before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, submitted that neither of the two migrant workers were arrested by the Odisha police.
He stated before the court that the law encrafted in the Foreigners' Act authorises the civil authority to do certain things in respect of the suspected persons whose citizenship is in doubt.
He stated that there was no arrest and that it was a lawful verification of documents as provided in the law, claiming that it was a frivolous petition.
Acharya stated that the Odisha government has already submitted a status report on the matter before the court.
The division bench presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty directed the Odisha government to file an affidavit in opposition to the contention of the petitioners by August 20.
The petitioners were directed to file their reply to the contention of the Odisha government in its affidavit by August 27.
The court directed that the matter will come up for hearing again on August 29.
Earlier in July, Odisha police detained 444 workers from various Bengal districts on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, though 50 were later released after submitting documents.
Appearing for the West Bengal government, senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee stated that the opinion about a person's citizenship must be reasonable.
In recent weeks, a political storm has been brewing in Bengal, with Mamata Banerjee alleging that Bengali-speaking migrants are being detained, targeted, and subjected to linguistic profiling in the name of national security.
The TMC has accused the BJP of resorting to "linguistic othering" and has sought to reignite the emotional chord of regional identity that helped it counter the BJP's Hindutva wave during the 2021 assembly polls.
The newly appointed Bengal BJP chief and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya alleged a deliberate TMC-backed infiltration plan ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
