Bhubaneswar- In a major development, Odisha authorities have released 101 more migrant workers detained earlier this week at holding centres in Jharsuguda district over suspicions of being illegal Bangladeshi or Rohingya settlers. This takes the total number of released individuals to 403 out of 447 detained since Monday, after their Indian citizenship was verified using official documents like birth certificates, voter IDs, and land ownership records.
The verification drive, aimed at identifying undocumented individuals, has triggered a sharp political clash between the Odisha and West Bengal governments. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has strongly opposed the detentions, alleging that Bengali-speaking migrant labourers from districts like Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, and South 24 Parganas were being unfairly targeted.
Odisha police, however, maintain that the action was purely legal and not community-specific. IG (Northern Range) Himanshu Lal clarified that the drive was about upholding national security and legal procedures, emphasizing that those under detention were treated humanely with proper food, water, hygiene, and medical aid. “These individuals lacked valid papers to prove their citizenship, so a thorough verification was essential,” he said.
Among the remaining 44 still in custody, the identity documents have reportedly been found inadequate or fraudulent. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari acknowledged that 335 of those originally held were found carrying fake Indian identification papers. However, he stated that Odisha has handed over these cases to district collectors in West Bengal for further action. “It’s now up to the Bengal government to decide on the next steps,” he said.
The issue has taken a legal turn as well. TMC MP Mahua Moitra warned the Mohan Majhi-led Odisha government of legal consequences if two migrant workers from her constituency in Nadia district—allegedly detained only because they had Bangladeshi numbers saved on their phones—were not released. The Calcutta High Court later confirmed their release, but it raised concerns about the legality of such detentions. Advocate Raghunath Chakraborty, representing the workers, said, “The matter doesn’t end here. The Court needs to determine whether the detention itself was lawful.”
While BJP’s Amit Malviya accused the TMC of using Bangladeshi infiltrators for vote-bank politics, TMC MP and state migrant workers’ welfare board chairman Samirul Islam questioned the basis of Odisha’s actions. “If they were really Bangladeshi nationals, why were the majority released after court intervention?” he asked.
