Mamata says migrant worker from Bengal murdered in Pune, demands arrest of perpetrators

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that a 24-year-old migrant worker from the state was murdered in Maharashtra for speaking in the Bengali language. Banerjee termed it a ''hate crime'' and demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. ''I am shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bandwan in Purulia, the sole earning member of his family, in Pune, Maharashtra,'' the CM said in an X post. ''This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots,'' she said. ''This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets,'' the CM added. She demanded the immediate arrest of the accused and exemplary punishment for them. ''To Sukhen's family, I say that West Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief. No effort will be spared to secure justice,'' she added.