Four Bengali workers, detained on suspicion of being from Bangladesh, were released from Chhattisgarh

Four migrant workers from Murshidabad, West Bengal, who were detained and held in a detention center in Chhattisgarh for over a month on suspicion of being Bangladeshis, were released on Wednesday (Oct 7, 2026) night. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Following the intervention of the Calcutta High Court, the Chhattisgarh Police released four migrant workers from West Bengal who had been detained for more than a month on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals.

On Monday (October 5, 2026), the Calcutta HC questioned the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO), who is also Superintendent of Police, Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, over the authority’s move to determine the citizenship of four men from Murshidabad while their appeals against deletion of their names from the Electoral Roll (SIR) are under special intensive appeal (SIR.

He also rapped the state of Chhattisgarh for its “double standard”. He said the situation was “contradictory”. “If the authorities claim that some persons are not Indian citizens, then what would the appellate body (tribunal) do?” Justice Krishna Rao asked.

It asked the Electoral Commission whether it was “playing” with people. The Supreme Court has set up a tribunal to hear appeals by those whose names have been struck off the electoral rolls. The court asked how the FRRO can decide their citizenship.

Now, a night before the next hearing of the case on Thursday (October 8, 2026), all four – Sabir Sheikh (42), Safikul Islam (39), Nasiruddin Sheikh (35) and Laltu Sheikh (28) – were released from the detention center on Wednesday (October 26, 2026) around 9pm.

“We were so surprised. It happened suddenly when we lost hope. We finished our dinner and went to the security staff at the gate to mark our attendance. But suddenly they told us that we don’t have to do that anymore. The higher authority ordered them to release us immediately. The police also wrote in the copy of the order that we are Indians, not Bangladeshis,” Safikul said after the phone call.

The four men were part of a group of 23 migrant workers — mostly from Murshidabad’s Samserganj and Sahabad — who had gone to Chhattisgarh in search of work, where they also sold goods door-to-door in the Bilaspur area.

On September 4, the Chhattisgarh police detained at least 23 of them from their residences in Chunchiapara-Ganesh Nagar under Sirgiti police station on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals. They were initially taken to the office of the Superintendent of Police in Bilaspur, from where they were transferred to the Detention Center for Illegal Immigrants in Raipur.

Later, 19 of the 23 workers were released on 18 September 2026 by order of the local civil court, while the four remained in the detention centre. The police challenged their nationalities in court on the basis that their names were deleted in the Special Intensive Review (SIR). Sure enough, the rest of the 19 found their names back on the electoral roll after the decision process in April, while these four were left out.

They have now appealed to the tribunal and asked for their names to be returned. However, applications are still pending.

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh administration has sought a verification report from the Murshidabad District Magistrate, but the report has reportedly not been provided by the West Bengal administration. As a result, the families were forced to approach the Calcutta High Court.

The petitioners said they have been detained even as their appeal against the deletion of their names from the electoral rolls is being heard by the tribunal. Therefore, the actions of the authorities are “wholly arbitrary, illegal and unsustainable in law”. They have temporarily visited Chhattisgarh for work, but have “permanent roots” in West Bengal.

Reacting to the development, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam urged bureaucrats not to delay such citizen verification reports sought by other administrations. He asked them to carry it out with a sense of responsibility to protect the rights and interests of every citizen without any “political considerations”.

“District judges and other officials are expected to serve the people in their districts impartially. Helping citizens in such circumstances is not a favor, it is an administrative responsibility. In this case, the absence of timely administrative assistance left the families with no other option but to seek judicial intervention. I thank the judiciary, which is the place of our last hope,” he said on X.

Published – 8 Oct 2026 11:57 IST