TMC-BJP face-off after 7 pushed back to B'desh, repatriated after citizenship verified

Kolkata, Jun 17 (PTI) Seven migrant workers, including a woman, from West Bengal, who were wrongly apprehended on suspicion of being Bangladeshis and subsequently pushed back through the Indo-Bangla border, have now been repatriated after their Indian citizenship was verified, senior police officials said.

The issue triggered a war of words between the TMC and the BJP.

These individuals were initially detained earlier this month by the police in Maharashtra and other states under suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Following this, they were reportedly handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF), which allegedly deported them to Bangladesh without consulting the West Bengal government or verifying their documents.

The matter first came to light when a migrant worker, Mehebub Sheikh from Bhagawangola in Murshidabad district, was discovered to have been "pushed back" to Bangladesh by the BSF.

Soon after, the West Bengal government received reports of six more such cases — with deportation taking place from the Siliguri and Cooch Behar regions.

Following the initial reports, the West Bengal government instructed the state police to verify the citizenship status of the detained individuals, collate documents, and coordinate with the BSF.

It was later found that they are Indian citizens, officials said.

The state government then contacted the BSF, demanding immediate repatriation of the affected workers. Following a flag meeting between the BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), all seven individuals were brought back to Indian territory by Monday evening.

Three of the repatriated workers were taken to the Mekhliganj police station in Cooch Behar. From there, police arranged for their return to their respective homes in Murshidabad and Purba Bardhaman districts.

“We coordinated with BSF and now seven people, including one woman, have been brought back home,” ADG (Law and order) Javed Shamim told PTI.

Speaking to PTI, another senior police official explained the steps taken to ensure the return of the individuals.

“Once we received information, we carried out local investigations to confirm their Indian citizenship. After thoroughly verifying their documents, we submitted the evidence to the Border Security Force which contacted the Border Guard Bangladesh. Following this, a flag meeting was held and they were brought back,” the official said.

There’s no issue with the police detaining someone on suspicion of being an infiltrator from any part of the country. But there is a standard procedure that requires verifying the person’s identity and documents—either through their own system or by involving the concerned state police, the officer said.

"In these seven cases, however, that process was completely ignored,” he said.

Repeated attempts by PTI to contact the BSF for a comment failed.

The West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board suspects that there may be more such cases involving Bengali-speaking workers who were deported under similar suspicions.

Samirul Islam, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of the Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board condemned the incident on social media.

He alleged that the workers were deported despite having proper documents and accused the BSF and Maharashtra Police of discrimination based on language.

“Under the leadership and active intervention of our Chief Minister @MamataOfficial, we were finally able to repatriate seven Indian citizens who were illegally pushed back to Bangladesh by the BSF," he said in a post on X.

Islam said the Maharashtra Police first detained them on suspicion of being Bangladeshis and handed them over to the BSF, which deported them to Bangladesh "only because they spoke Bengali".

He said, “I have some questions: How did the Maharashtra Police hand over these migrant workers to the BSF without informing the West Bengal government? Why didn’t the BSF contact the local administration to verify their identities before forcibly deporting them to another country? Is there a larger plan by these BJP-ruled states and the BSF to target and harass Bengali-speaking migrant workers?” The TMC MP said that the party will expose the forces behind this misdeed and ensure justice.

The BJP, on the other hand, held the Mamata Banerjee-led state government responsible for the confusion surrounding migrant workers' identities.

The party alleged that a large number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have managed to acquire fake Indian documents and are now moving freely across the country.

There may be one or two stray cases of such pushbacks, said BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya.

“But we hold the Mamata Banerjee government accountable for the situation. The lines between real citizens and those using forged documents have become increasingly blurred. Thousands of infiltrators from Bangladesh have managed to create fake papers identifying them as Bengal residents and are now circulating across the country as Indian nationals.” He said. PTI PNT NN