A group of four men is among hundreds of Muslims scrambling to leave their homes in Odisha and return to Bengal — not for a joyous occasion, but under duress.

They have been given a 72-hour deadline to leave Nayagarh in Odisha, where they have lived for years, selling mosquito nets, quilts and woollens on two-wheelers. The deadline, allegedly issued by the local Odagaon police station, expired on Monday.

All four trace their roots to Sagarpara gram panchayat in Jalangi block of Domkal subdivision in Murshidabad.

At the Odagaon police station on Thursday, an officer asked them to leave the town within three days, even after they showed Aadhaar and voter cards. More than once, men in uniform allegedly called them “Rohingya” and “Bangladeshis” for speaking in Bengali.

By Monday evening, the men would have departed by bus to Bhubaneswar, more than 100km away, and then boarded a train to Howrah. But till late Monday night, they did not know what to do with the home essentials they were hurriedly leaving behind and their unsold goods.

“We do not have confirmed train tickets. The bigger problem is our stock. Our landlord has been forced to put us on notice. We have found another place, around 30km away, to keep the stock. We have stock worth over ₹2 lakh,” said Saheb Sekh, 32, the youngest in the group.

“We are trying to find a buyer, at least someone who will buy some of it, even at a cheaper rate. As soon as we can get some of it sold, we will return home.”

He lives with his father and uncle — both senior citizens — and another relative in a rented accommodation.

‘Prove Indian-ness’

“I first came here with my father more than 15 years ago. My father and uncle have been coming here from much before that. They often laugh that they know Nayagarh and Koraput districts better than they know Murshidabad. Yet, we were called infiltrators,” said Sekh.

That sense of betrayal is hurting the men more than the financial loss.

“I can show them land documents in the name of my ancestors dating back more than 120 years. But why do I have to prove my Indian-ness?” asked Abdus Salam, 38.

Muslim traders and migrant workers from Bengal have faced serial police detentions and mob attacks in Odisha this year.

On November 24, Rahul Islam, a 24-year-old winterwear seller from Murshidabad, was allegedly branded a Bangladeshi and beaten up by a mob in Odisha’s Ganjam district after he refused to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. That place is around 30km from where Saheb’s group lives.

The ultimatum

Only Saheb was home when two police cars arrived at their doorstep on Thursday afternoon. An officer led the group.

“He said we were Rohingya living illegally in India. He asked for my identity papers. I showed him my Aadhaar and voter card. He was not satisfied. He called my landlord and asked all of us to report to the station by 5pm,” said Saheb.

At the police station, they were allegedly called Bangladeshis and Rohingya again. The police took signed photocopies of their documents and then allegedly issued the ultimatum.

Abdus described his Odiya landlord as “a good man”.

“Our landlord is a good man. We have nothing against him. He was intimidated by the police, who warned him against keeping us as tenants,” he said.

Abdus and his group know the people harassing them — activists of a pro-Hindutva outfit. “We have seen them in markets and other places. They were present in the police station as well,” he said.

Together, the four men manage to save around ₹1,200 a day after their expenses. The bulk of it goes back home.

The Migrant Labour Unity Forum has already written to the Odisha police, urging action on the violence against migrant workers.

Calls to the superintendent of police in Nayagarh went unanswered. Messages did not elicit a reply. A man from the SP’s office called back later. “I will find out the details from the police station concerned,” he said.

Rahul Islam, the youth allegedly thrashed in Ganjam, is recovering from physical pain at his home in the same Sagarpara gram panchayat in Murshidabad. But the trauma is far from over.

On November 24, a young man was the first to stop his two-wheeler. “He called others on the phone, bragging that he had caught a Bangladeshi. Soon, I was surrounded by a group of over 15,” Rahul told this newspaper.

The mob allegedly threatened to burn Rahul alive if he did not chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

“I cannot forget the image. A man poured petrol from the tank of a bike into a bottle and threatened to set me on fire,” he said on Monday.

His employer, Mainul Sarkar, has also returned to his home in Murshidabad. Sarkar alleged that he went to the police in Odisha for help but did not receive any.

“Apart from Rahul, a couple of other men working for me were also harassed. But Rahul could have been killed,” Sarkar said. “I asked my men to leave and came back myself. All my stock is kept at my home in Ganjam district in Odisha. I cannot stay back indefinitely.”