Calcutta High Court Seeks Response From Odisha Govt Over Alleged Detention Of Migrant Workers From Bengal

The Calcutta High Court has posed several questions to the government of Odisha over allegations of Bengali speaking migrant workers from West Bengal allegedly being detained in Odisha.

A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra directed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with the Odisha government and pose the court's questions to the chief secretary of Odisha, and to ensure the release of the migrant workers.

“Where are the migrant workers now? On what basis were they detained? Has any action been taken against them?,” the court asked.

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that his son had travelled to Odisha in search of a job and had been detained during a 'special identification drive' launched by the state government. It was submitted that there was no information given to the family regarding the whereabouts of the detainee or details of their arrest.

Senior Counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay also cited instances of Bengali migrant workers being detained in Assam and called it a serious issue.

Advocate General appearing for the state submitted that the state of West Bengal would extend all support to the detainees since there had been an apparent confusion regarding their identities.

Accordingly, the court directed the Chief Secretary to appoint a nodal officers and to pose the questions of the court to the chief secretary of Odisha.