Bhubaneswar: Two days after Mahua Moitra warned Odisha DGP and Nayagarh SP over alleged forcible removal of four Bengali-speaking Muslim traders from Odagaon, Nayagarh police strongly refuted the allegations made by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP.
Nayagarh SP S. Sushree said the accusation was ‘completely false’, clarifying that police only carried out routine verification of identity documents but did not evict anyone.
The SP informed that Odagaon police had received information that 14 unidentified Bengali-speaking ferry vendors were plying their trade in nearby villages.
Police had summoned them for standard identity verification, to check if one or some of them were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh or Rohingya settlers.
“They were asked to produce their identification documents as part of a legal and routine procedure. During the process, seven of them fled without informing us, while the others have been cooperating,” SP Sushree said.
Responding to the TMC leader’s charge that the workers had been chased away, the Nayagarh SP said, “They may have left on their own, but the police did not drive them out. We did not force or threaten anyone.”
Police reiterated that identity verification of unknown individuals is a standard practice conducted in the interest of public safety. Verification process for the remaining individuals and efforts to trace those who fled are ongoing.
Moitra had said in a video message: “You will pay for your actions. Watch out.”
