04-07-2025
2 habeas pleas in HC over Bengal workers detained in Odisha
Kolkata: Two habeas corpus petitions were filed in Calcutta High Court on Friday against Odisha Police for "illegal detention" of migrant workers from Bengal.
Trinamool MP and chairman of West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board Samirul Islam said the parents of two workers filed the petitions to bring the detainees before the HC.
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"Bengali-speaking people were detained in Odisha since June 25 while the country was observing 50 years of Emergency," Islam said.
On Thursday, Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant wrote to his Odisha counterpart, Manoj Ahuja, for release of the detained workers and to stop their harassment, urging immediate intervention.
The chief secretary of Odisha, SP of Jagatsinghpur and OC of Balikuda police station have been made parties in the petition along with the Bengal CS and Murshidabad district magistrate.
Nasima Mondal, mother of detained Rakhibul Islam Mondal, a resident of Hariharpara in Murshidabad, filed one of the petitions. She sought judicial intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Rakhibul, a migrant labourer working at Jagatsinghpur, was detained beyond 24 hours without being produced before any court of law, she claimed. This was against Supreme Court's guidelines and his fundamental rights were violated, Nasima's petition said.
The police, while conducting an identity verification drive on June 25, detained Rakhibul and other Bengali-speaking people without any warrant. Nasima said though her son had valid documents — including Aadhaar, voter ID and ration card — these were not taken into consideration.
Rakhibul was detained on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi for speaking Bengali, her petition claimed, adding that Odisha officials did not even cross-check his identity.
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She pleaded that her son be produced before the court.
A similar petition was filed by Rajjak Sk, also a resident of Hariharpara, for his son Sainur Islam. Rajjak claimed his son had been detained by Jagatsinghpur police since June 30 during the identification drive of Bengali-speaking people. Sainur has not been given any legal support to seek bail, he said, seeking his son to be produced before the court and his "lost dignity restored".
Islam posted on X: "We have moved court against the barbaric torture and atrocity on migrant workers in BJP-governed states like Odisha. The atrocity on Bengali-speaking people is a sheer violation of the Constitution."
