West Bengal: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Odisha government of illegally detaining migrant workers Robiul Sheikh and Mohir Munshi from her constituency Krishnanagar, despite their documents being verified, reportedly because their phones contained Bangladeshi numbers.
In a strongly-worded video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, July 11, she called the act “extra-constitutional” and threatened legal action against the state authorities.
She captioned the post, "Robiul Sheikh and Mohir Munshi with verified documents still being detained illegally by Odisha only because of a Bangladeshi phone number on their phones! All BCCI members should be detained by the same logic!"
Have a look at her entire statement here:
In the nearly two-minute video, Moitra said, “Their documents are okay. Everything is okay. On their phone, they had a Bangladeshi phone number, which is why they are not being released.” She criticised the Odisha police for what she termed as “illegal detention” and questioned how a stored foreign contact could be grounds for incarceration.
Moitra also took aim at senior Odisha officials, adding that the Superintendent of Police in Jharsuguda was not even answering calls from his counterpart in West Bengal’s Nadia district. “One IPS officer is not picking up another SP’s phone,” she said, highlighting a breakdown in interstate coordination.
'We Will Drag You to Court': Moitra
Labelling the entire episode a misuse of power under the guise of national security, Moitra said, “What you are doing is illegal… You will really have to pay a heavy price for this because we will drag you to court.” She added that the Calcutta High Court had already reprimanded the authorities the previous day.
She also spoke about the personal and human side of the issue, saying that she herself has family and close friends in Bangladesh whose numbers are saved on her phone. “If storing a phone number of anyone in Bangladesh is a crime in this country, I would like that the statutes and the laws of this country be amended,” she said sarcastically.
Moitra ended her video urging immediate release of the two migrants, stating this “will not have an easy end” if authorities fail to act.
