Bengal Migrant Worker Murdered in Pune, 'Killed for His Language and Identity,' Says CM Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: The murder of a migrant worker from West Bengal’s Purulia district in Maharashtra’s Pune has triggered a political storm, with Pune Police attributing the killing to a drunken altercation, a claim strongly contested by the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Twenty-four-year-old Sukhen Mahato, a resident of Bandwan in Purulia’s Barabazar area, had been working in Koregaon, Pune, along with his four brothers for the past four years. He was employed at a company associated with Tata Motors, where he worked in motor assembly. His body was found near a roadside not far from the factory earlier this week.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to social media, stating that a young man had been “tortured and killed for his language, identity and roots.” She assured the family that the state government would take all necessary steps to ensure justice.
She wrote:
"I am shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bandwan in Purulia, the sole earning member of his family, in Pune, Maharashtra. This is nothing short of a hate crime.
"A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots. This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets.
"I demand immediate arrests and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators. And to Sukhen’s family, I say that Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief. No effort will be spared to secure justice."
In a statement issued after Banerjee’s post, Pune Police said the incident occurred late on February 9. According to the police, Sukhen had left home around 3 pm that day for work but did not report to duty.
A slip showing the results of a forensic examination into the reasons behind Sukhen Mahato's death.
Inspector Deepratan Gaikwad of Shikrapur Police Station told reporters that preliminary investigations suggest that Sukhen was intoxicated and had been roaming in the Koregaon area instead of attending work. Police added that Sukhen was attacked with a sharp weapon and that a search is underway to apprehend the accused.
Authorities have maintained that the murder stemmed from a quarrel and that there is no evidence so far of any other motive behind the crime.
Sukhen’s family has rejected the police’s version. His elder brother, Tulsi Ram, who worked a different shift at the same company, said he was informed by local police that Sukhen’s body had been found near the factory.
“I saw his body myself. He had been hacked with a sharp weapon. There were deep cuts from his face to the back of his head, his fingers were severed, and there were numerous injuries. We have no enemies. No one had threatened us,” Tulsi Ram told The Wire.
The family has alleged that Sukhen may have been targeted for speaking Bengali, an allegation that has intensified political reactions in West Bengal.
TMC leaders have claimed that migrant workers from West Bengal have faced harassment in Maharashtra and other BJP-ruled states in recent months, sometimes allegedly for speaking Bengali.
TMC’s All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has visited Sukhen’s family in Purulia. Local TMC MLA Rajib Lochan Soren and Purulia Zilla Parishad Sabhadhipati Nibedita Mahato met the bereaved family a day ago.
Addressing to the media, senior Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, “This is not an isolated incident. Over the past several months, Bengalis have been harassed and even killed in different states for speaking Bengali. When we raise these concerns, the police of BJP-ruled Maharashtra attempt to construct alternative theories to save face.”
Purulia, a drought-prone district with limited employment opportunities, has seen a large outflow of migrant workers in recent years. Irregular rainfall, inadequate irrigation, rising farming costs, and poor returns on crops have pushed many young men to seek work outside the state.
Sukhen’s killing has once again brought the issue of migrant worker safety into focus, raising questions about working conditions, social tensions, and inter-state coordination in criminal investigations.
Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.
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