India, July 11 -- The Odisha police on Thursday released 277 Bengali workers who were detained in Jharsuguda district as part of a crackdown on suspected illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas after verifying their documents, police said.

Since Monday, 444 individuals - from West Bengal's Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, Purba Medinipur, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, and South 24 Parganas - had been rounded up during raids in colonies where Bengali-speaking labourers reside, and shifted to holding centres at Black Diamond College of Engineering and Technology in Jharsuguda sub-division and Surabhi Kalyan Mandap in Brajrajnagar sub-division

Trinamul Congress (TMC) member of Parliament (MP) Mahua Moitra claimed on Wednesday that 23 of those detained we...