Days after a 30-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal was allegedly killed in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said a zero FIR had been registered in the case and a state police team had travelled to the neighbouring state to carry out the investigation.

The victim, identified as Jewel Rana, was allegedly beaten to death following an altercation over a bidi in Sambalpur on Wednesday.

Addressing the issue, Banerjee strongly condemned what she described as “brutal oppression, harassment and violence” against Bengali-speaking people in “every BJP-ruled state”.

In connection with the killing, the West Bengal Police have already “registered a zero FIR at Suti police station and arrested six accused”, Banerjee said.

She added, “A police team from West Bengal has travelled to Odisha to carry out the investigation.”

“I strongly condemn the brutal oppression, harassment and violence against Bengali-speaking people in every BJP-ruled state. We stand firmly with those migrant Bengali-speaking families, which have been intimidated, victimised and subjected to inhuman treatment and assure them of all possible support,” the chief minister said in a post on X.

Referring specifically to the Sambalpur incident, Banerjee said migrant workers from the Jangipur region of Murshidabad district had faced severe atrocities in BJP-ruled Odisha.

“It is deeply unfortunate that a young migrant worker from the Suti area of Jangipur in Murshidabad was again beaten to death in Sambalpur on December 24,” she said.

The chief minister claimed that migrant workers from Muslim-majority Murshidabad were “now returning home in fear”.

“We stand with the families affected by this tragic incident, and financial assistance will be extended to the family of the deceased,” Banerjee said.

“We unequivocally condemn the perpetrators involved in such acts in BJP-ruled states and reiterate our commitment to provide all forms of assistance to the victims,” she added.

Stressing linguistic identity, the Trinamool Congress supremo said speaking the Bengali language can never be a crime.