Date:17/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/17/stories/2008051751490300.htm

Kerala

Stricter tab on migrant workers

Staff Reporter

Identity check necessary, says Special Branch
Police team in Kolkatta fails to arrest two suspects

MALAPPURAM: The killing of two Bengali brothers engaged in construction work at Pulikkal last week and the investigation into it have prompted the police to begin keeping a tight tab on the migrant labourers in the State.

Although there has been no pressure or brouhaha demanding the arrest of the killers, unlike a crime where the victim or the wanted is a local person, the murder of Bengali siblings Ranjan and Gogan Biswas allegedly by their Bengali co-workers has forced the secret wing of the police to take the issue of migrant labour seriously.

No records

Police officials said that it was high time the authorities maintained a watch over the increasing number of migrant labourers in the State. At present, hardly any record is kept on migrant labour. Even the contractors who bring the labourers from outside Kerala do not have any details.

“We should at least have the bona fide identity of the migrant labourer working in the nooks and crannies of our State,” said a Special Branch officer. He pointed out that issues involving migrant labourers had gone up in recent months.

Meanwhile, the police team that went to West Bengal in pursuit of the accused has not made any breakthrough. A team led by Circle Inspector A.P. Chandran had gone to West Bengal following the detention of Haran Rai, one of the three accused.

Although the other accused, Binu Sarkar and Supal, both in their early twenties, had left for home along with Haran Rai, the police could not lay hands on them.

Mr. Chandran and his team are yet to return from Kolkatta. The Kerala police have requested the help of their West Bengal counterparts in their hunt for the accused.

The bodies of the Biswas brothers were found in separate sacks hidden underneath the staircase of an unfinished house belonging to Mujeeb Rahman at Pulikkal, near Kondotty, last week. They were engaged in the construction of the house along with three other Bengali labourers, who disappeared after the killing.

The weapons allegedly used for the murder were also recovered from the site. Police said the killing was the result of a drunken brawl.