By Subhashis Chaudhuri
A Muslim labourer from South 24-Parganas was allegedly killed in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday night after being branded as a “Bangladeshi” in a rerun of violence against Bengali-speaking migrant workers from the minority community.
Manjur Alam Laskar, 32, from Usthi was allegedly beaten to death by right-wing Hindutva goons at Komarolu after being accused of theft.
Laskar, 32, was a resident of Bishnupur village in Rangilabad gram panchayat. He had been working as a zari worker at Komarolu for nearly a decade, family members said.
Despite his long association with the locality, he was repeatedly threatened and asked to leave after being branded a Bangladeshi. Family sources claimed that Manjur was taken hostage, and his captors demanded a ransom of ₹25,000 for
his release.
Manjur’s wife received a call from an unidentified number on Tuesday demanding the ransom for his release. Fearing for his life, the family managed to arrange ₹6,000, which was paid online to the number provided. However, on Wednesday night, the family was informed that Manjur had been killed.
Manjur’s elder brother, Giyasuddin Laskar, a Trinamool Congress leader and deputy chief of Rangilabad gram panchayat, alleged that the killing was premeditated and carried out by Hindutva goons. “It is clear that the unidentified caller and others killed my brother-in-law,” Giyasuddin added.
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com. Read the full story here.
