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Family members and co-workers said the attack stemmed from suspicions that Sheikh was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant, an allegation Odisha police denied

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A Muslim migrant labourer from West Bengal was beaten to death in Odisha on Wednesday, with police arresting six people in connection with the incident, The Indian Express reported.

The victim, identified as Jewel Sheikh, 30, was from Chakbahadurpur village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district and had been working as a construction labourer in Sambalpur, the report said.

Family members and fellow workers alleged that the attack was triggered by suspicions that Sheikh was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant, a claim rejected by Odisha police, who said the accused and the victim were known to each other.

The assault occurred late on Wednesday in Sambalpur’s Shantinagar area as Sheikh and other workers were returning from work, the newspaper said. According to Paltu Sheikh, a co-worker from Murshidabad who was present at the scene, the group had stopped at a tea stall when another group of men approached them.

“Then they started asking for Aadhaar cards and wanted to know where we were from,” The Indian Express quoted Paltu Sheikh as saying. “We showed our Aadhaar cards. Suddenly, the group, armed with bamboo sticks, started beating us. Jewel was hit on the head. Some others were injured.”

Paltu Sheikh said Jewel Sheikh was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead. Two other workers, Akir Sheikh and Palash Sheikh, were injured and remain hospitalised in Sambalpur. Paltu Sheikh, who has worked in Odisha for more than a decade, said, “This is the first time we faced such an incident,” according to the report.

Sambalpur Additional Superintendent of Police Srimanta Barik told the newspaper that the West Bengal labourers had lived in the area for years and were familiar with local residents. He said the violence followed a dispute over a request for a beedi.
“A group suddenly attacked the Bengali migrant workers after they refused,” the newspaper quoted Barik as saying. “We have arrested six people and are identifying whether more were involved.”

Northern Range Inspector General of Police Himansu Lal said on Thursday that the killing stemmed from a sudden provocation and was not a targeted attack, adding that all accused had been arrested, The New Indian Express reported.

Following the incident, leaders of West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress party, along with Suti legislator Emani Biswas, visited Sheikh’s family and offered assistance, The Indian Express said.

Samirul Islam, a Trinamool Congress lawmaker and head of the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of targeting Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states.

“How many lives of innocent Bengali speaking people the BJP wants?” he asked. “This is nothing but another example on how BJP treats Bengalis.”

Since May, thousands of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-governed states have been detained and asked to prove their citizenship, with some declared foreigners and sent to Bangladesh despite being Indian nationals, according to rights groups and media reports.