Man alleges MNS workers harassed him as Bangladeshi

A day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) launched a "drive" against suspected illegal Bangladeshis in Pune, a person from a minority community on Sunday filed a complaint application with police alleging that some workers of the party barged into his house and harassed him.

The alleged incident occurred on Saturday under Sahakar Nagar police station limits.

"Upon suspicion that some people living in the area were illegal Bangladeshi nationals, we asked police to inquire them. The suspicious residents were then brought to the police station. They were released after an inquiry in evening," said an MNS leader.

A senior police officer said when MNS workers were on their way to the area, police marshals also went there.

"Police brought some persons the MNS claimed to be Bangladeshis to the police station and verified their credentials. We found that none of them was an illegal migrant," he said.

However, one of them alleged that some workers of the MNS had barged into his house and labelled him as a Bangladeshi national though he hailed from West Bengal, he said.

"I tried to convince them that I am not a Bangladeshi. I am an Indian citizen and showed them all the documents, but they did not listen to me and later took me to the police station," the man said.

"Police verified all my documents and also spoke to my relatives in West Bengal," he said.

The man filed a complaint application with Sahakar Nagar police station seeking action against MNS workers.

Addressing a rally of MNS workers in Mumbai on February 9, MNS chief Raj Thackeray demanded eviction of illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi "infiltrators" from India.