Kolkata, Aug 13 (PTI) Nearly a month and a half after Rajasthan Police, aided by the Border Security Force, allegedly pushed Amir Shekh, a migrant worker from Malda in West Bengal, to Bangladesh, the frontier guards on Tuesday handed over the “missing” labourer to the Basirhat Police in the bordering North 24 Parganas district.
Appearing before the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, the BSF, however, submitted that it apprehended Amir who had “inadvertently” crossed over to the neighbouring country earlier, when he was trying to cross back without valid papers.
The high court noted in its order the submission of the additional public prosecutor representing the state police that, in the event the youth's father approaches the police authorities, Amir would be handed over to him subject to production of all necessary records and upon execution of undertaking, if any.
Amir's father Jiyem Shekh moved a habeas corpus petition before the high court alleging that his son was first unlawfully detained by the state police in Rajasthan, where he had travelled a few months ago in search of work, and later deported him across the border calling him a Bangladeshi.
According to the petition, 19-year-old Amir, a resident of Malda’s Kaliachak, migrated to Paradip in Odisha on April 3 and then to Sikar in Rajasthan in search of a livelihood. He was employed in Rajasthan as a labourer.
On June 25, Rajasthan police officers, accompanied by armed BSF personnel, conducted an identity verification drive at Amir’s worksite and “forcibly detained him without any communication of grounds or procedural safeguards”.
He was held in a detention facility outside Sikar. On June 28, he was pushed to Bangladesh, the petitioner alleged.
“We sent all documents of Amir, including his Ration Card, Aadhar Card and birth certificate, when Rajasthan Police asked for them following his detention. We even sent a video of the school that Amir went to after the police asked for it. We lost touch with Amir after the police took his phone away. Later, we realised he had been deported to Bangladesh from a social media clip in which Amir was seen pleading for help,” said Md Ajmaul Shekh, Amir’s uncle.
“Amir has parents at home and aged grandparents as well, who have hardly eaten or slept properly during the last few months. Why did we have to face this harassment and torture? Is speaking Bengali a crime in this country?” he asked.
Stating that the family had mixed feelings of relief and torment after knowing the youth had been brought back, Ajmaul demanded that those responsible for his illegal deportation should be brought to justice.
“I can recall the names of my forefathers of seven generations who have lived here in Malda. Our family has a much longer ancestry than that. I demand that those who misused power to bring this agony to us be punished,” said Ajmaul.
Meanwhile, during the hearing of the habeas corpus petition at the high court, Deputy Solicitor General Rajdeep Majumdar submitted that the BSF has filed a report stating that Amir had inadvertently crossed the border and went to Bangladesh, and while coming back into India, without any valid papers, was apprehended.
Majumdar stated before the division bench presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty that Amir was thereafter handed over to the local police in Basirhat.
The court told the state to release Amir to his father and obtain the address where he would be residing, and ask him to appear before the police as and when required.
The bench, also comprising Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra, directed Majumdar, representing the BSF, to obtain further information on the issue and return to the court on the next date of hearing.
The BSF, in its report, stated that it had asked the police to register an FIR against Amir Shekh since he could not produce any document.
The state's counsel submitted before the court that no case has yet been registered.
The petitioner's lawyer stated that a copy of Amir Shekh's birth certificate was enclosed with the petition, maintaining that he is a citizen of India and was a resident of Kaliachak in Malda district.
Basirhat SP Hossain Mehedi Rahaman confirmed that the BSF handed over Amir to the local police after apprehending him on charges of trying to enter India from Bangladesh illegally on Tuesday night.
Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board chairperson and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam lashed out at the BJP for what he alleged was a cover-up act by the central force.
“After persecuting a poor man, now that they have been exposed, the BJP is resorting to lies. But of course, that’s their policy. Let it be known that we have all evidence that Amir was deported… We will legally prove that Amir was deported by the BSF and that he did not go there voluntarily,” Islam posted on X.
Congress MP from Malda Dakshin Isha Khan Chaudhari said that he had remained in touch with the Union home secretary and the BSF chief to facilitate Amir’s return.
Similar petitions, like those of Amir’s family, have also been filed before the Calcutta High Court by two families in the Paikar area of Muraroi in Birbhum district.
At least six migrant members belonging to two families, which included two women and three minors were allegedly deported to Bangladesh after they were detained by Delhi Police from Rohini in June.
In June, seven residents were detained in Mumbai and later pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF. Following intervention by the state government, they were brought back.