Rajasthan police on Tuesday evening released migrant workers, including two families from Cooch Behar, after keeping them detained at a guest house for nine days on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Altogether, 13 persons — including from Cooch Behar, including a child — were detained by Patan police station personnel in Rajasthan’s Sikar district.

On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported about their ordeal, that how despite being Indians, they were kept under police vigilance because they spoke in Bengali.

“Around 6.30pm today (Tuesday), the police released us. We have left the guest house and have returned to our accommodations near the brick kiln where we worked before we were detained,” said Obaydul Khandakar, a resident of Purba Jaigir Balabari village in Dinhata-II block of Cooch Behar, who was detained with his wife Beauty Bibi.

The two families from Cooch Behar apart, three other families — one each from Cooch Behar, Assam and Meghalaya — were detained and kept at the guest house under police vigil.

All of them used to work in a brick kiln in Sikar.

Over the past few days, officials of the Bengal government had been communicating with the Rajasthan police and other authorities for the speedy release of workers. On Monday, Samirul Islam, the Rajya Sabha member of the TMC, who heads the Bengal government’s migrant worker welfare board, confirmed that the Bengal government had initiated talks with officials in Rajasthan.

“We came to know that a senior official from Cooch Behar had called the police. After the phone call, we were allowed to go. It is unfortunate that despite being Indian citizens, we were detained for nine days,” Khandakar said.

The migrant worker said that he would meet the brick kiln owner to get his dues settled. “Then, I will decide when to leave for Cooch Behar. This detention has left us worried. I am confused whether I will ever come back to Rajasthan for work,” he said.