A young Bengali migrant worker’s death in Maharashtra provoked outrage in West Bengal with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (February 12, 2026) terming it a “hate crime”.
Sukhen Mahato, 24, who hailed from Bandwan in Purulia district, was found dead in Koregaon area of Pune in Maharashtra on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) morning. The migrant worker earned a living at a factory that makes spare parts of vehicles and did not return to his home in Pune on Monday (February 9, 2026) night, police said.
Trinamool highlights unnatural death migrant worker in Pune, blames it on targeting of Bengali speakers
‘Sickened beyond words’
“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. This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots,” Ms. Banerjee posted on social media.
