An Indian Muslim migrant worker has been killed by a mob in the Indian state of Odisha after being falsely accused of being a Bangladeshi national, in an incident rights groups say highlights growing fear and hostility faced by Bengali-speaking migrants.
The victim, Juyel Rana, also known as Jewel Sheikh, was 19 and hailed from Murshidabad district in West Bengal, a border state in eastern India with a large Muslim population. He had moved to Sambalpur in Odisha around three years ago in search of work and was employed as a construction labourer.
According to family members and co-workers, Rana was attacked late on the evening of December 24 inside the rented room where he lived with other migrant workers.
“My son had eaten dinner and was resting when they came,” his mother, Najima Biwi, told local media. “They hit him on the head. He fell unconscious and died on the way to the hospital. I want justice for my child.”
A relative of Rana, Paltu Sheikh, who worked with him at the same construction site, said a group of five to six men entered the workers’ room and demanded identity documents.
“They accused them of being Bangladeshi and asked for proof that they were Indian,” Sheikh told The Wire, an independent Indian news outlet.
“Before Juyel could even show his Aadhaar card, they started beating him with iron rods and bamboo sticks.”
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Aadhaar is India’s national biometric identity system, used by residents to establish proof of identity and access public services.
Two other migrant workers were seriously injured in the assault and remain hospitalised at a government hospital in Sambalpur.
When fellow workers rushed to help, the attackers had fled. Rana was taken to hospital but was declared dead shortly afterwards. Police in Odisha have arrested six people in connection with the killing.
According to the Press Trust of India, police claimed the violence followed an altercation over a bidi, a local hand-rolled cigarette. Odisha’s Inspector General of Police, Himanshu Lal, told The New Indian Express that the killing was the result of “sudden provocation” and not a targeted attack.
Family members and rights activists have rejected this version of events, claiming the assault was directly linked to accusations that the workers were “illegal Bangladeshis.”
Odisha Police have not responded in detail to various questions raised by independent media regarding these discrepancies.
Rana’s relatives say the killing has left migrant workers from West Bengal fearful of future violence.
“We want to go back home,” Sheikh said. “We will take Juyel’s body to our chief minister. We are not safe here anymore.”
Large numbers of Bengali-speaking Muslims migrate from West Bengal to other Indian states for low-paid work in construction and factories. Rights groups say many face suspicion due to their language, appearance or names and are frequently misidentified as undocumented migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, despite being Indian citizens.
Reaction to the killing
The killing triggered sharp political reactions in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress governs. Party leaders accused India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of contributing to hostility against Bengalis and Muslims through its rhetoric. The BJP has not issued a statement on the Sambalpur killing.
“The lynching of a Bengali migrant worker in Sambalpur is the direct outcome of sustained campaigns targeting Bengalis,” the Trinamool Congress said in a statement.
TMC MLA Emami Biswas said the party was assisting the family and arranging for Rana’s body to be transported home following the post-mortem examination.
Rana’s death is the second confirmed lynching in India this week linked to suspicions over nationality.
Labour rights groups say the incidents reflect a dangerous trend in Hindutva-ruled India of growing anti-Muslim violence and racism against nationals from Muslim-majority countries in the region.
“There has been a sudden spike in violence against Bengali migrants,” said Asif Faruk, state general secretary of the Parijayi Sramik Aikya Manch, a migrant workers’ union in West Bengal. “There is a clear pattern.”
Faruk linked the rise in attacks to recent government actions and rhetoric following security incidents in Indian administrative Kashmir, as well as a controversial advisory issued by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs that led to police crackdowns on suspected undocumented migrants in several states.
“Many people were detained or even deported despite having valid documents,” he said. “For this violence to stop, that notification must be withdrawn.”
Rights activists warn that the Sambalpur killing reflects a broader climate of fear facing migrant workers in India, particularly Muslims and Bengali speakers.
For Rana’s family, however, the loss is deeply personal. “He went to earn so he could support us,” his mother said. “They killed him because of who they thought he was.”
