RAIPUR (TIP): The Chhattisgarh HC on Thursday issued notice to the state government on a plea of 12 migrant workers from West Bengal seeking quashing of “illegal” criminal proceedings against them, and compensation for illegal detention and confinement in jail by accusing them of being Bangladeshi immigrants.

Mehmoob Sheikh and 11 others, residents of Krishna Nagar and Murshidabad in West Bengal, in the petitions also alleged they were ill-treated in custody, threatened by the police in Kondagaon and forced to leave Chhattisgarh, following which they lost their livelihood and returned to their home state.

The petitioners were released from jail after the West Bengal police submitted a report confirming their Indian citizenship.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice B D Guru, hearing the plea, had directed the state to respond within two weeks, following which the petitioners have been asked to give a counter reply. The 12 workers were taken into custody on July 12, allegedly mercilessly treated by Kondagaon police without any cognizable offence and subsequently sent to Central jail in Jagdalpur, the petitioners stated.

Advocates Sudeep Srivastava and Rajni Soren filed a habeas corpus plea in the high court, but before it came for a hearing, all 12 were released on July 14 by the order of SDM Kondagaon.

“All 12 were kept in jail for 2 days, but neither produced before any magistrate or court of law nor served any detention order. They had come to work at a construction site in Kondagaon through a contractor to build a school,” stated the petition.

The petitioners claimed that they were working at the school construction site from June 30, residing in the same premises with proper verification and didn’t hide their identity. They had produced their Aadhar cards and other documents on demand to the Kondagaon police. (NIE)