Labourers shun Mumbai fearing attacks by Shiv Sena

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Sept. 15: Several migrant labourers working in Mumbai left the tinsel town for home in Malda in the past three days fearing attacks by the Shiv Sena. According to the labourers, who are mostly from the Gopalpur village in Manikchak village and are from the minority community, Shiv Sainiks had apprehended hundreds of migrant labourers of Malda origin and handed them over to the police in the past week. Mr Akhtar Ali, a resident of Gopalpur village in Manikchak block, who returned home on yesterday, said: “Nearly 500 such labourers are in Mumbai police custody. We have failed to establish ourselves as Indians. The Shiv Sena activists did not recognise the photocopy identity card as a valid enough document. They suspect us as Bangladeshis and threatened to leave." According to him, a relative Mr Roushan Ali, who failed to prove his citizenship, was apprehended from a Mumbai hotel three days ago and was handed over to the Belapur police in Mumbai. “The Shiv Sainiks barged into the hotel when about a hundred of us were lunching in the hotel and accosted us. I managed to escape and reach home,” Mr Akhtar, said. According to those who have succeeded in returning home, the Mumbai police have lodged hundreds of workers from Malda in several go-downs due to space constraint in the police stations. Today, some migrant labourers with helped by the CPI-ML (Liberation) submitted a memorandum to the Malda district magistrate requesting him to help bring back home those languishing in Mumbai police custody.