West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that a 24-year-old migrant worker from the state was murdered in Maharashtra’s Pune, allegedly for speaking Bengali.
“This is nothing short of a hate crime,” Banerjee alleged. “A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots. This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets.”
However, the Pune Rural Police said their initial investigation showed that the man, identified as Sukhen Dhiren Mahato, was killed due to a dispute with the residents of the area, reported The Indian Express.
“We have registered a murder case,” Pune Rural Additional Superintendent of Police Ramesh Chopde told the newspaper. “Two suspects have been identified, and a search is underway for them.”
Mahato died due to a severe head injury on Monday night, said the police.
His body was found on Tuesday morning in an open plot in Koregaon Bhima in the Shirur taluka of Pune district.
Mahesh Dongare, the sub-inspector at the Shikrapur police station, told The Indian Express that it was not yet known whether it was a hate crime.
The Trinamool Congress has consistently accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of inciting hatred against Bengali-speaking migrant workers.
Since May, thousands of Bengali-speaking migrant workers have been rounded up in states ruled by the BJP and asked to prove that they were Indian citizens – and not undocumented immigrants.
In several cases, workers have been declared foreigners within days and forced into Bangladesh, despite being Indian citizens.
Also read: Why Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states are being asked to prove they are Indians
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