A killing in Odisha’s Sambalpur district involving migrant workers from West Bengal has triggered sharply divergent narratives, with Maktoob Media presenting the incident as a communal lynching, while police accounts and multiple witness statements point to a criminal altercation that escalated into fatal violence.
Maktoob Media reported that a 19-year-old Bengali Muslim migrant worker was “lynched after being labelled Bangladeshi,” framing the incident as part of a pattern of anti-Muslim attacks. The report foregrounded allegations that the assailants demanded Aadhaar cards and forced the victims to chant religious slogans, citing an activist’s account.
However, Odisha Police have categorically denied that the murder was communal in nature. According to police, the violence followed a dispute late Wednesday night, allegedly triggered when the accused asked the workers for a bidi. When the request was refused, an argument ensued, during which the attackers demanded to see Aadhaar cards, leading to a scuffle. One worker, identified by police as Juel Sheikh, suffered a fatal head injury during the altercation.
Police officials stated that both the accused and the victim were known to each other and had lived in the same area for several years. Northern Range IGP Himanshu Kumar Lal said the murder had “nothing to do with whether the victim was a Bengali or a Bangladeshi,” directly contradicting the communal framing.
While injured co-workers told police that they were verbally branded as Bangladeshis during the assault, law enforcement has maintained that the incident does not meet the legal or factual threshold of a lynching. All six accused have been arrested.
Critics argue that Maktoob Media’s report selectively amplified one version of events while downplaying official findings, using loaded terminology such as “lynching” to project a broader anti-Muslim narrative. The case, they contend, illustrates how criminal violence can be reframed through ideological lenses, even as investigations remain ongoing.
Source: India Today
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