Drunken quarrel led to Bengal migrant’s murder: Pune police counter Mamata’s hate crime claim

The murder of a 24‑year‑old migrant worker from West Bengal in Pune has become the centre of a heated political dispute, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee branding the killing a “hate crime” while Pune police maintain it resulted from a personal dispute amid alcohol consumption. Police have detained two suspects, including a minor, and are continuing their investigation.

The deceased has been identified as Sukhen Dhiren Mahato , a resident of Tumrasole village in Bandwan, Purulia district, West Bengal , who had been living in Koregaon Bhima in Pune district with his brothers and working in a local industrial unit. His body was found on the morning of February 10 on open land behind Hotel Aapla Ghar under the limits of the Shikrapur police station . The post‑mortem examination revealed multiple severe injuries, including to his head, face, and hands, inflicted by a sharp weapon.

According to police reports, Mahato left his accommodation on the afternoon of February 9 , saying he was going to work, but instead wandered through Koregaon Bhima in an intoxicated state. Pune Rural police said he got into an argument with two local men while under the influence of alcohol. “The victim and the accused both had consumed liquor. They had a quarrel under the influence of alcohol. Due to it, the accused and his minor accomplices murdered the victim with a machete. The probe has revealed that the murder was not a hate crime. The accused do not have any previous criminal record,” said Inspector Deepratan Gaikwad of Shikrapur Police Station, referring to one adult suspect, Amin Shaukat Shaikh (18) , and a **16‑year‑old minor who has been taken to an observation home as per legal procedure.”

Police accessed CCTV footage showing Mahato in an unsteady, inebriated condition arguing with two people before the incident, but the actual assault was not captured on camera. The victim’s body was found nearby later that night. Police officials have emphasised that preliminary investigation indicates no communal, religious, or language‑based motive , and that the dispute appears to have been spontaneous and personal. “We did not find any indication that the murder was the result of communal targeting or a hate crime,” said Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill , adding that the case is registered under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and that further investigation is underway.

Despite the police position, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly condemned the killing as a hate crime, asserting that Mahato was murdered “for his language, his identity, his roots” and linking the incident to what she described as a climate where “xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets.” In her post on X, she wrote that the murder was “nothing short of a hate crime” and demanded “immediate arrests and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators,” assuring the victim’s family that “Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief.” Banerjee’s statement questioned whether Mahato was targeted for speaking in Bengali and accused elements opposed to her party of inciting hostility toward migrant workers.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has amplified the political narrative, with senior party leaders such as Abhishek Banerjee reportedly travelling to Purulia to meet Mahato’s family and express support while reiterating allegations of targeted hostility against Bengali‑speaking migrants. Critics, including members of opposition parties, have dismissed the hate crime claim as politicisation of a violent but ordinary crime , noting that police investigations have not found any evidence of identity‑based targeting.

The controversy has surfaced amid an already charged political climate ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections , with the TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) exchanging accusations. BJP leaders have rejected hate crime allegations and pointed to the police findings to argue that the incident was a personal dispute that escalated into violence, not a targeted attack based on language or ethnicity.