India

Chhattisgarh Police Release Four Detained Workers After Court Intervention

By Senjuti Sengupta

Chhattisgarh Police released four migrant workers from West Bengal on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, after a Calcutta High Court order. The men—Sabir Sheikh (42), Safikul Islam (39), Nasiruddin Sheikh (35) and Laltu Sheikh (28)—had been held for more than a month on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. The High Court questioned the Foreigners Registration Officer, who is also the Bilaspur Superintendent of Police, over the decision to determine the citizenship of the men while their appeals against deletion of their names from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were pending before an appellate tribunal.

The court criticised the state for a "double standard" and asked how the FRRO could decide on citizenship when the appellate authority was still reviewing the deletion of the men’s names. The Supreme Court had earlier formed a tribunal to decide on appeals by those whose names had been removed from the electoral rolls.

The four men were among 23 migrant workers from Murshidabad’s Samserganj and Sahabad areas who had come to Chhattisgarh for work and were selling goods house‑to‑house in Bilaspur. On September 4, police detained at least 23 of them from Chunchiapara‑Ganesh Nagar under Sirgiti police station on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. They were moved to a holding centre in Raipur for illegal immigrants. Seventeen of the 23 were released on September 18 after a local civil court order, but the four men remained in custody.

The police had sought a verification report from the Murshidabad District Administration, which was delayed. The families approached the Calcutta High Court on September 30, alleging that the men were detained while their appeals against deletion of their names were pending. The court described the authorities’ actions as "wholly arbitrary, illegal, and unsustainable in law".

After receiving the delayed verification report on Wednesday, the Bilaspur Superintendent of Police, Rajneesh Singh, issued an order to release the four men. Safikul Islam, one of the released men, said the police had informed them that they were Indian citizens, not Bangladeshis, and that they were released immediately.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam urged officials to expedite verification reports and highlighted the need for impartial administrative service. He thanked the judiciary for providing a last resort for the families.

The incident follows a year‑long drive to trace illegal immigrants, ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, during which police teams from Bilaspur and Jangipur visited villages in Murshidabad to verify the men’s locations and identities. No relatives were found there. The four men’s appeals before the tribunal remain pending.