Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said if the Maharashtra police failed to carry out a proper and timely probe into the murder of migrant labourer Sukhen Mahato from Purulia and punish the killer, it should transfer the case to the Bengal police, and they would solve it within 50 days.

“According to the directive of our chief minister, the state and Purulia district administration will get in touch with their counterparts in Maharashtra. We demand that proper action be taken within seven-10 days. We have seen that in BJP-ruled states, people get bail even after being accused of rape, murder and kidnapping. It is the Maharashtra police’s job to ensure proper investigations, frame charges and that the trial is started and concluded on time. If they fail, then the case should be transferred to us. Bengal police will solve it in 50 days,” said Abhishek.

The national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress and the Diamond Harbour MP was in Purulia’s Barabazaar to console the parents of Sukhen, who was found dead with multiple injuries at Shikrapur in Pune on Tuesday.

Abhishek told Sukhen’s father Dhiren that his party and the Mamata Banerjee government would extend all possible help.

Sukhen, along with his two brothers Tulsiram and Debasish, had been working in Pune for three years. The trio stayed together in a small accommodation in Shikrapur.

According to the complaint lodged with the police by Tulsiram on Monday, Sukhen had left for work around 3pm but did not join duty. He could not be contacted over the phone either. The following day, his body with multiple injuries was found beside a hotel.

On Thursday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee termed the incident a “hate crime”. She claimed that Sukhen was murdered in the BJP-ruled state because of being a Bengali-speaking citizen.

Speaking after meeting the youth’s parents, Abhishek said: “Sukhen is survived by his father, mother, a sister and two brothers. He was only 30 years old. The reason for his death is a matter of investigation. I don’t do politics over deaths. But in the last six-eight months, several incidents have taken place in BJP-ruled states. We have seen incidents in Maharashtra and Haryana. A few days ago, some youths from Raghunathpur were harassed in Chhattisgarh. In Odisha, at least six-seven people have been tortured,” Abhishek told reporters outside Sukhen’s tiled roof house in Tumrashole village in Barabazaar.

The Trinamool leader said a Scheduled Tribe youth was branded a Bangladeshi in Odisha. “People have been tortured in Haryana as well. I don’t want to link this incident with those cases as the police are investigating,” he said.

Abhishek told Sukhen’s father that if they wanted, they would send them to Maharashtra to meet the police along with three-four party MLAs. “We will also send a delegation if the accused persons are not arrested by the 25th of this month,” he added.

Sources said that the Shikrapur police had arrested one person in connection with the crime.

The BJP accused Abhishek of peddling a “false narrative”.

“We condemn any such attacks, and as Bengalis, we should protest such incidents. But what Trinamool is doing is peddling a lie despite the availability of CCTV footage. The Maharashtra police have provided CCTV footage to buttress their claim that Sukhen Mahato was not killed because he spoke Bengali. Some other altercation led to his unfortunate death,” BJP’s chief spokesperson in Bengal, Debjit Sarkar, told the media.