Kolkata: A 29-year-old migrant labourer from Bengal was allegedly murdered in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday after his wife received a random call on Tuesday, demanding Rs 25000.
However, the family of the deceased migrant labourer, identified as Manjur Alam Laskar of Usti in South 24-Parganas, alleged that he was murdered for his linguistic identity.
According to sources, the victim, Laskar, used to work in an embroidery factory in the Komarolu police station area for nearly a decade. He had returned home for a couple of days to stay with his family and returned to Andhra Pradesh about 20 days ago.
On Monday, his family members received a call from an unknown number. The caller allegedly demanded Rs 25000 ransom for Laskar’s release. Despite his wife transferring Rs 6000 through UPI, Laskar was allegedly beaten to death.
On Tuesday, again, she received a call claiming that Laskar had died. It is suspected that due to his linguistic identity, Laskar was suspected of being a Bangladeshi national.
The incident has further sparked a political tension with Trinamool Congress alleging that BJP-backed miscreants are involved in the murder of Laskar. This comes after the alleged murder of another migrant worker from Bengal’s Murshidabad district’s Beldanga area, identified as Alauddin Sheikh in Jharkhand a few days ago.
The incident had led locals to block railway tracks and National Highway 12 in Beldanga, causing major disruption. Before this, two migrant labourers from Murshidabad, Jewel Rana and Amai Sheikh, were allegedly murdered in Odisha and Chennai.