West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the killing of a 24-year-old Bengali migrant worker in Pune and demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
Banerjee described the killing as a "hate crime", asserting that the victim was murdered simply for speaking Bengali.
"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," the Chief Minister said in a post on X.
"This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots," she added.
Banerjee further claimed that the incident was a direct consequence of a climate where "xenophobia is weaponised" and "innocents are turned into targets."
"To Sukhen's family, I say that West Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief. No effort will be spared to secure justice," she said.
In the past, too, Banerjee had raised concerns about attacks on migrant workers from West Bengal across the country, particularly in BJP-ruled states.
According to reports, Mahato, a resident of Bandwan in Purulia, was found dead in the Koregaon Bhima area under Pune’s Shikarpur police station limits.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that he was fatally assaulted for speaking Bengali. His elder brother, Tulsiram Mahato, has filed a murder complaint with the Shikarpur police station in connection with the incident.