Cooch Behar: Tension has gripped Sitalkuchi in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district following claims that several migrant workers from the area, currently employed in Gurgaon, Haryana, are being harassed by police there on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals.
The incident has sparked outrage locally, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accusing BJP-ruled states of deliberately targeting people from Bengal. According to reports, Gurgaon Police have summoned several migrant workers from Sitalkuchi for repeated questioning, allegedly ignoring their valid Indian identity documents.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, TMC spokesperson and former MP Partha Pratim Roy said: “Once again, we are witnessing a disturbing trend of Bengalis being harassed in BJP-ruled states. Safiul Mia, a resident of Sitalkuchi who assists others in finding employment in Gurgaon, informed me late Wednesday night that he and other workers are being repeatedly summoned by the police.”
Roy further alleged that the Gurgaon Police have called Safiul Mia for questioning on three occasions and have asked him to produce ten additional workers every day. “Even after presenting valid voter ID and Aadhaar cards, the police are claiming the documents are fake. Instead, they are demanding ration cards or entries from old electoral rolls,” he added.
Calling the development “deliberate harassment,” Roy said, “We will submit all necessary documents to the concerned authorities and inform the party leadership. If directed by the party, we are ready to travel to Gurgaon to support our people. These individuals are not strangers—they are from our constituency, and I know many of them personally as I contested from Sitalkuchi in the last election.”
The issue has sparked strong reactions across Cooch Behar, with residents and local leaders demanding immediate intervention from both the state and Central governments to ensure the safety and dignity of migrant workers.