India, July 8 -- A 50-year-old farmer from Sadialer Kuthi, a remote village in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, has received a notice from the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam's Kamrup district asking him to submit valid documents to prove that he is not an "illegal migrant or foreigner.".

The development has sparked a political row in the eastern state, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam was trying to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.

"I am shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam has issued an NRC notice to Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Rajbanshi, resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar for over 50 years. Despite...