Migrant worker killed in Odisha’s Sambalpur after altercation over ‘bidi’, six arrested

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A violent attack on migrant workers from West Bengal in Odisha’s Sambalpur district has left one person dead and several others injured, triggering political allegations and a police investigation.

According to the Odisha Police, the incident took place late Wednesday night after a confrontation over a ‘bidi’. Police said a group of six men allegedly approached the workers asking for a bidi, following which an argument broke out that escalated into violence. One of the workers was beaten to death, while others sustained injuries.

The injured workers, however, gave a different account, claiming they were targeted after being asked to show their Aadhaar cards and were assaulted on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

The case has since taken a political turn, with West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress accusing the BJP-led Odisha government of creating a hostile environment for Bengalis. The party alleged the killing was the result of the saffron party’s “sustained campaign against Bengalis”.

Police confirmed that all six accused have been arrested and said further investigation is underway to establish the sequence of events and the motive behind the attack. Authorities added that the situation in the area remains under control.

Juel Sheikh, the deceased, along with a few others from West Bengal, worked at a construction site in Shanti Nagar in the Ainthapali police station area.

When they were preparing food at their living place, a group of six men stopped them and asked for a bidi. When they denied, the workers were asked to show their Aadhaar cards. An altercation broke out over this, leading to a scuffle between the two sides, police said.

Sheikh was hit on the head, and he died while undergoing treatment at the Sambalpur hospital.

Majhar Khan, another migrant worker from West Bengal, said, “The miscreants first asked bidi from us and then asked me to show our Aadhaar cards. Later, they rammed Juel Sheikh’s head against a hard object.”

Nizamuddin Khan alleged that the attackers called them Bangladeshis before assaulting Sheikh and two others. Two other injured persons have been hospitalised and are under treatment.

IGP (Northern Range) Himanshu Kumar Lal said, "We have arrested six accused people. The police are investigating the case."

Asked about the allegation, the IGP said the murder has nothing to do with whether the "victim was a Bengali or a Bangladeshi".

Additional SP Srimanta Barik said the workers from the neighbouring state had been living in the area for several years, and they know the accused persons.

Police said the investigation is in progress to find out if other individuals were involved in the crime.

West Bengal's ruling TMC claimed that Sheikh was beaten to death over suspicion that he was an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.

"The lynching of a Bengali migrant worker in Sambalpur is the direct outcome of @BJP4India’s sustained campaign against Bengalis. A citizen of India was beaten to death because a mob believed the lie that Bengalis are infiltrators who must constantly prove their right to exist," the TMC alleged in a post on X.

"For years, BJP leaders have deliberately branded Bengali-speaking Indians as infiltrators, outsiders, and suspects. That poisonous narrative has now reached the streets, where anyone feels empowered to act as immigration officers and executioners," it claimed.

(With PTI inputs)