The Trinamool Congress on Thursday alleged that a 19-year-old man from West Bengal’s Malda district who had been living in Rajasthan was wrongfully deported to Bangladesh.

The family of the man, Sk Amir, holds land records dating back to the pre-Independence era, claimed Samirul Islam, the chairperson of the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board.

“He is neither a Rohingya nor a Bangladeshi national,” the Trinamool Congress MP said. “Despite being a Bengali-speaking Indian citizen, he was forcibly sent across the border.”

Amir’s father Jiyem Sheikh on Thursday filed a habeas corpus petition before the Calcutta High Court, The Times of India reported. A habeas corpus petition is one seeking orders for a person to be produced before court, so that the court can decide whether the person was unlawfully detained.

Sheikh told the High Court that Amir was detained by the Rajasthan Police and “pushed” into Bangladesh on the night of July 22 on the suspicion that he was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant.

The case is likely to be heard on Friday, The Times of India reported.

The family claims that Amir was held in a detention camp for nearly two months by the Rajasthan Police, despite him showing his Aadhaar and birth certificate, PTI reported.

The matter came to light after a video surfaced online, showing a man, purportedly Amir, in tears. Following the video being shared widely, Sheikh said he received a call from the person who recorded it, who informed him that his son was currently in Bangladesh’s Ghumra, The Times of India reported.

This comes amid the Trinamool Congress raising concerns about several Bengali-speaking migrant workers being detained in parts of the country on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

Since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.

Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, individuals who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after state authorities in India proved that they were Indians.

In July, non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch said India should stop unlawfully deporting people to Bangladesh without due process.

The organisation said that the government should instead “ensure everyone’s access to procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion”.

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