Odisha: Labelled Bangladeshi, youth lynched in Sambalpur, claim kin; police cite monetary dispute as reason

SUTI(MURSHIDABAD)/SAMBALPUR: A 20-year-old villager from Suti, who went to work as a mason in Odisha’s Sambalpur five days ago — his first job outside Bengal — was beaten to death on Tuesday by a mob that accused him of being a Bangladeshi, according to the deceased’s family and witnesses.

Odisha IGP Himanshu Lal, however, claimed the violence stemmed from a monetary dispute and there was “no communal or linguisitic” aspect.


Local police said the monetary dispute escalated after local youths asked the workers for bidis. Two other Bengal migrant workers were injured and are in critical condition. “All six accused have been arrested and further investigation is under way,” IGP Lal said.

In a written complaint to Suti police, Juel Rana’s mother, Nazma Bibi, stated that her son had left for Sambalpur on December 20.

“On Dec 24, at 8.30 pm, I received a call that some seven or eight locals had attacked my son and his colleagues close to where they lived in Odisha. They accused them of being Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis and threatened to beat them to death. They assaulted my son and his colleagues with sticks, iron rods and sharp weapons. My son died on the spot and those with him are undergoing medical treatment,” she said.

Juel’s father, Ziaul Haque, works as a mason in Kerala.
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