Minorities panel seek action against police over arrest of WB residents

Maharashtra Minorities Commission sought action against a Vasai police officer for wrongly arresting 26 persons hailing from West Bengal on the charge of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Minorities Commission on Friday sought action against a Vasai police officer for wrongly arresting 26 persons hailing from West Bengal on the charge of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The arrests were made from a construction site in neighbouring Vasai last December, Commission chairman Munaf Hakim said.

Two of the arrested had told police that other 24 were Bangladeshis, but police did not check documents like identity cards and voters list, he said. Instead, police tore up the documents offered by the accused, he alleged. The court acquitted them on April 3 after they submitted relevant documents, he said. The concerned police inspector should be suspended for dereliction of duty, he said, in a letter to Home Minister R R Patil. The Commission looked into the matter after Union Minister Tariq Anwar pointed out that those arrested were from MP Abdul Manna`s constituency in West Bengal, he said. PTI