Mamata condemns ‘hate crime’ after Bengali worker found dead in Pune

Kolkata: “Shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder,” said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bengal was found dead in BJP-ruled Maharashtra.

The deceased, Sukhen Mahato, was a resident of Badhidih in Tumrashol under Barabazar in Purulia’s Junglemahal region. Trinamool Congress (TMC), in a Press conference, condemned the barbaric attack, while a delegation met the grieving family in Purulia.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to visit the family on Friday.

Mahato had been working in Pune since 2021 in a car parts manufacturing company. On Wednesday afternoon, his body was recovered from the Koregaon Bhima area under the Shikrapur Police Station in Pune. The deceased, who belonged to the Kurmi community, was allegedly assaulted for speaking in Bengali. On Tuesday, Sukhen had a 3 pm shift and left his accommodation accordingly; the next day, his body was found near his workplace.

Pune Rural Police stated that the 24-year-old migrant worker from Purulia was killed following a drunken altercation with two individuals in the Koregaon area under the Shikrapur Police Station limits.

They added that CCTV footage showed him involved in a quarrel before his body was found and that there was no indication of any other motive so far. However, the Trinamool Congress refuted this claim, alleging that the police were attempting to dilute the gravity of the incident by terming it a personal dispute, and maintained that the killing reflected targeted hostility against Bengali-speaking migrant workers. Condemning the heinous act, CM Mamata Banerjee wrote: “This is short of a hate crime… This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets.” On losing the only earning member of the family, the CM assured them, “Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief. No effort will be spared to secure justice.” A TMC delegation, instructed by Abhishek Banerjee, visited the deceased’s house and assured the family of support. TMC senior leader and Minister of State for Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs Sandhyarani Tudu stated that migrant workers from Purulia should not have to go outside the state for work and that they would be provided jobs within the state.

Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress leaders Chandrima Bhattacharya and Bratya Basu threw a challenge to the ruling dispensation at the Centre, daring it to formulate laws restricting the movement of people from one state to another. Speaking at a press conference, the leaders argued that if migrant workers from Bengal are lynched to death merely for speaking in Bengali, the Centre should come out and take a stand on the issue.

“If a migrant labourer is killed in this manner in other states, the BJP-led government should then officially restrict the movement of these people. They should also formulate necessary laws to ensure that people do not go to other states for occupational reasons,” Bhattacharya and Basu said. “The tradition of Bengal and its culture are being destroyed. People from Bengal are being butchered in other states for speaking in Bengali. We want to ask the Centre — our Constitution allows free movement of people from one state to another,” the leaders added.

The Bengal Chief Minister demanded “immediate arrests and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators”. This is not the first time Banerjee has condemned such acts, as the deaths of Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states have been a constant issue. In the case of Juel Rana, a 19-year-old migrant worker, Banerjee had called it “brutal oppression and persecution” of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh was criticised for trivialising the issue by saying: “Not a big issue. Over 50 lakh workers are outside; some may die in accidents.” TMC, in a post, stated: “For BJP, the lives of Bengalis seem to carry no value, no meaning. They spit on our people, subject us to cruel witch-hunts, and then expect Bengal to reward them with votes.”