TMC's Abhishek Banerjee meets Bengal's migrant workers arrested as Bangladeshi in Mumbai

Kolkata, Dec 28 (PTI) Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday met two migrant workers of West Bengal who were arrested by the police in Mumbai on false charges of being Bangladeshi infiltrators.

The TMC said in a statement Sunday night that though the two, Asit Sarkar and Goutam Barman, hail from Union minister and former state BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar's constituency, he allegedly did not come forward to help them, while Banerjee stepped in to offer them legal support on hearing their plight in April.

"Their names have since appeared in the SIR draft electoral roll, conclusively establishing their status as legitimate Indian citizens. And yet, they were HARASSED, HUMILIATED, and HECKLED, treated as suspects in their own country," the party said in a post on X.

Sarkar and Barman were arrested in April at Bhiwandi, on the outskirts of Mumbai. They were booked under the Foreigners' Act on allegations of illegal entry into and residence in India, the party said in a statement. Following their arrest, both individuals were remanded to judicial custody.

In November, a court granted them bail for a period of one month, taking into consideration the land ownership records and identity documents issued in West Bengal produced on their behalf.

"They belong to the constituency of @DrSukantaBJP. Goutam Barman also happens to be BJP’s Booth President, and when arrested, his wife reached out to Sukanta Majumdar for help, only to be abandoned. Not a single word of protest came from the BJP Minister," the TMC alleged.

TMC leaders, including Samirul Islam, stood by them and provided all assistance, the party claimed.

"BJP has long been obsessed with collapsing the identities of 'Bengali' and 'Bangladeshi' into a single, convenient stereotype, weaponising it to STIGMATISE, TARGET, and DELEGITIMISE an entire people," the post claimed. PTI SUS NN