The Crossbill News Desk
A 24-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal was found dead in Maharashtra’s Pune district earlier this week, setting off a sharp political exchange between the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the local police, who have ruled out any communal or linguistic motive behind the killing.
The deceased, Sukhen Mahato, hailed from Bandwan in Purulia’s Barabazar area and had been working in Koregaon, Pune, for the past four years along with his four brothers. He was employed in motor assembly at a company associated with Tata Motors. His body was discovered near a roadside close to the factory premises.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that the migrant worker was murdered in Pune for speaking in Bengali, police said he was killed by two persons with whom he had got into an argument in a drunken state.
In a post on X, she said, "I am shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bandwan in Purulia, the sole earning member of his family, in Pune, Maharashtra. This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his root.”
"This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets," Banerjee added.
According to Pune Rural Police, the incident occurred on the evening of February 9 within the limits of the Shikrapur police station.
Two individuals, including a minor, have been detained in connection with the case, and further investigation is underway. Police have rejected allegations that the crime was a hate-driven attack.
Superintendent of Pune Rural Police Sandip Singh Gill told news agency PTI, "The probe so far has not indicated that the crime is a fallout of any hatred against any community.....it was a fallout of some instant spat."
Providing details of the sequence of events, Shikrapur police station inspector Dipratan Gaikwad said the victim had left home at around 3 pm on the day of the incident but did not report for work.
"He left his house to go to work at 3 pm on that day. But instead of going to work, he started roaming in Koregaon in a drunken state and picked up a spat with two persons," the inspector said, reported PTI.
"Preliminary probe suggests that following the spat, he was allegedly murdered by the two persons. We have CCTV footage in which the deceased is seen in unstable condition and arguing with two persons. The actual assault did not get captured in the CCTV camera. But he was found killed with a sharp weapon nearby," Gaikwad said.
He added that investigators have not found any evidence suggesting a motive beyond a quarrel.
"We have registered an offence and two locals including a minor have been detained," said inspector Gaikwad.
As the investigation continues, the case has taken on political overtones, with competing narratives emerging over whether the killing was a personal altercation or a targeted attack linked to identity.
The deceased, Sukhen Mahato, hailed from Bandwan in Purulia’s Barabazar area and had been working in Koregaon, Pune, for the past four years along with his four brothers. He was employed in motor assembly at a company associated with Tata Motors. His body was discovered near a roadside close to the factory premises.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that the migrant worker was murdered in Pune for speaking in Bengali, police said he was killed by two persons with whom he had got into an argument in a drunken state.
In a post on X, she said, "I am shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bandwan in Purulia, the sole earning member of his family, in Pune, Maharashtra. This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his root.”
"This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets," Banerjee added.
According to Pune Rural Police, the incident occurred on the evening of February 9 within the limits of the Shikrapur police station.
Two individuals, including a minor, have been detained in connection with the case, and further investigation is underway. Police have rejected allegations that the crime was a hate-driven attack.
Superintendent of Pune Rural Police Sandip Singh Gill told news agency PTI, "The probe so far has not indicated that the crime is a fallout of any hatred against any community.....it was a fallout of some instant spat."
Providing details of the sequence of events, Shikrapur police station inspector Dipratan Gaikwad said the victim had left home at around 3 pm on the day of the incident but did not report for work.
"He left his house to go to work at 3 pm on that day. But instead of going to work, he started roaming in Koregaon in a drunken state and picked up a spat with two persons," the inspector said, reported PTI.
"Preliminary probe suggests that following the spat, he was allegedly murdered by the two persons. We have CCTV footage in which the deceased is seen in unstable condition and arguing with two persons. The actual assault did not get captured in the CCTV camera. But he was found killed with a sharp weapon nearby," Gaikwad said.
He added that investigators have not found any evidence suggesting a motive beyond a quarrel.
"We have registered an offence and two locals including a minor have been detained," said inspector Gaikwad.
As the investigation continues, the case has taken on political overtones, with competing narratives emerging over whether the killing was a personal altercation or a targeted attack linked to identity.
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