BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police on Monday issued a warning against harassment of Bengali-speaking persons on suspicion of being illegal immigrants from the trouble-torn Bangladesh.
The warning came after the government took note of increasing incidents of targeting of Bengali-speaking people in many parts of the state, especially in the last two days.
“Several incidents have been reported during the weekend when some groups moved around and targeted Bengalis over mistaken-identity. The SPs of all the districts have been asked to immediately take action against those engaging in such unlawful activities,” said ADG Law and Order Sanjay Kumar.
Sources said police received information about four to five incidents where miscreants attacked Bengali workers and hawkers in districts like Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Jharsuguda and Gajapati. Police made station diary entries and registered at least one case in connection with the attacks on Bengalis.
“The documents of the people who were targeted were checked and found to be genuine. Odisha Police also contacted their West Bengal counterparts to confirm the identities of some persons working here,” said Kumar.
Kumar said if a citizen has information about any suspected Bangladeshi then he should inform police instead of harassing them. After police warned that stringent action will be initiated against targeting Bengali people from West Bengal or other parts of the country, no such incident took place on the day.
Sources said some people attempted to target the Bengalis, assuming them to be natives of Bangladesh, after reports surfaced on social media that people belonging to the minority community were being attacked in the violence-torn neighbouring country.
Odisha Police has also asked railway police to ensure people are not attacked in stations or in trains.