19 Bengal Migrant Workers Released in Chhattisgarh After Detention Over Citizenship Doubts

Nineteen migrant workers from West Bengal, detained in Chhattisgarh on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals, were released on Friday (September 18, 2026) after a local civil court issued an order for their release.

The workers are mostly residents of Samserganj and Sahabad areas in Murshidabad district. They had travelled to Chhattisgarh in search of work and had also been selling goods from house to house in the Bilaspur area.

On September 4, Chhattisgarh police detained at least 23 of them from their residences in Chunchiapara-Ganesh Nagar, under Sirgiti police station, on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals. According to the police, the workers had been summoned to the police station several times for document verification but did not appear.

Family members, however, alleged that the detentions were carried out illegally late at night, even though the workers possessed documents — including voter cards, Aadhaar cards and PAN cards — that serve as proof of Indian citizenship.

The detained workers were first taken to the Bilaspur Superintendent of Police's office and later moved to a holding centre in Raipur meant for illegal immigrants. Of the 23, nineteen were released on Friday following the civil court's order.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam said the episode was part of a continuing pattern of harassment of Bengali-speaking people on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. In a post on X, he said speaking Bengali outside the State now seemed to require proving one's citizenship, and noted that Bengali has been recognised as a classical language by the Union Government. He expressed hope that the remaining four workers would also be released soon.