A wave of fear has reportedly swept through several villages in the Suti area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, with human rights activists raising alarm over allegations that police are detaining Bengali-speaking Muslim residents on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals and attempting to push some of them across the international border, reportedThe Observer Post.
Activists and civil society members claim that around 10 people have been detained in the area in recent months. They allege that arrests and detentions are being carried out without adequate legal safeguards. Several of those picked up reportedly held valid Indian identity documents at the time of detention.
A fact-finding team comprising human rights activist Biplab Nayak, Kiriti Roy, convenor of BanglarManabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, and University of Kent associate professors Sanjay Bhattacharya and Antara Swarnakar, visited Suti on Sep. 14 to examine the allegations.
The delegation reported that some detained individuals became difficult for their families to trace after allegedly being transferred to BSF facilities or detention centres. The team also raised the case of Ibrahim Sheikh, an elderly local resident whom activists claimed was forcibly taken away by police shortly before their visit. They expressed concern that Sheikh had been identified as Bangladeshi and feared he had already been pushed back across the border.