Raiganj: Nearly 100 migrant workers have returned to Shankarpur in North Dinajpur over the past two days, following alleged harassment and intimidation by the Haryana police.
The workers, part of 15 families, had been employed in an almirah manufacturing factory in Gurugram.
According to the workers, police in Gurugram recently demanded that they vacate their rented accommodations, refusing to acknowledge their official documents, including Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards and state-issued police verification reports. Fearing arrest and mistreatment, they were forced to purchase costly Tatkal train tickets priced at nearly Rs 3,000 per ticket to return home.
Abdul Rasid, one of the affected workers, said: “Despite possessing valid Indian identification documents, we were treated as illegal immigrants and pressured to leave. We had our police verification reports from Bengal, but the authorities refused to accept them. Then we, members of 15 families returned by train getting Tatkal ticket priced at nearly Rs 3,000 per ticket. We no longer feel safe returning to our workplace.”
Krishna Kalyani, MLA of Raiganj, stated: “The state government, under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is actively helping Bengali-speaking migrant workers return from BJP-ruled states...”