New Delhi: A Muslim migrant labourer from Jharkhand was assaulted by four people in the coastal city of Karnataka’s Mangaluru who accused him of being a ‘Bangladeshi’, while demanding proof of his citizenship.
The migrant, identified as Diljan Ansari, used to work for around 4-6 months every year for the past 10-15 years in Mangaluru.
The incident, according to the Mangaluru Police, took place between 6.30-6.40 pm Sunday evening in the Kavoor police station limits in the communally sensitive coastal district of Karnataka.
“The migrant labourer from Jharkhand was assaulted by four Hindus who alleged that he was a Bangladeshi and demanded that he show all kinds of proofs along with some unwanted and unnecessary comments,” Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy said in a statement Monday.
The suspects were identified as Sagar, Dhanush, Lalu (alias Rathish), and Mohan, all residents of Kulur. While they are suspected to be members of a fringe Hindutva outfit, this has not yet been confirmed. All four individuals are currently absconding.
The police said that the miscreants hit Ansari and that “some local Hindu woman” came and rescued him. Ansari was too afraid to give a complaint but some others brought this to the attention of the local police.
Reddy said that it was verified that Ansari was “an Indian” and came to Mangaluru for work.
The police have lodged a case under Section of 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 109 (causing hurt to a person), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 353 (circulation of false information), 118(1) r/w 3(5) of (voluntarily causes hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The assault of Ansari eerily similar to the growing pattern of attacks on migrants by miscreants, often accusing the victims as ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’.
Incidentally, the assault took place on the same day that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was in the city for the unveiling of a new tourism policy to attract more visitors to the region and help boost the local economy.
In the last week of December, 31-year-old Ramnaraya was lynched in Kerala’s Palakkad district over accusations of being involved in a theft. The medical findings showed more than 40 injuries on his body, including severe head injuries, grievous wounds as he was thrown to the ground, kicked repeatedly and beaten with heavy sticks, according to a media report.
That same week, a 30-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal was killed in Odisha’s Sambalpur following an altercation over a bidi. Juel Sheikh was a construction worker and was severely beaten up. He died while undergoing treatment, according to the local police.
The same pattern occurred on 28 December, when R.Suraj, a migrant from West Bengal, working in Tamil Nadu’s Karumbukadai in Coimbatore, was murdered by an autorickshaw driver and another local over an argument.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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