– Shabana Javed
Kolkata: Three migrant workers from West Bengal’s Birbhum and East Burdwan districts, who were detained in Gujarat’s Surat on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals, were released on Tuesday night, according to their families. Gujarat police arrested around 550 people suspected of being Bangladeshis in a raid early on Saturday. At least 100 were arrested. But the families of three Bengali youths claimed that they were arrested by mistake.
The three individuals – Sultan Mallick and Sheikh Ataur Rahman from Kusumgariya village in Birbhum’s Lavpur police station area, and Kamaruzzaman Mallick from Purbasthali in East Burdwan – were among hundreds detained during a large-scale raid conducted by the Gujarat Police on Saturday. The operation reportedly targeted undocumented migrants, resulting in the detention of around 550 individuals, with at least 100 formally arrested.
Family members of the three youths claimed they had valid Indian identification documents, including voter and Aadhaar cards, and were detained despite proving their citizenship. Sultan and Ataur had been working in a textile factory in Ramnagar, Surat for eight years, while Kamaruzzaman had joined the same unit a year ago.
Concerned families reported the matter to the ‘Didi ke Bolo’ helpline, a public grievance platform launched by the West Bengal government after learning of their detention. Following the intervention, the families were informed late Tuesday that the three had been released.
