Sambalpur, Odisha: A 19-year-old migrant labourer from West Bengal was beaten to death around 8.30 pm on Wednesday in the Shantinagar city after a group of men falsely accused him of being an illegal Bangladeshi national.

Police said on Thursday, the victim, identified as Juel Shaikh, had stopped at a tea stall after completing his day’s work. Three other migrant workers were with him at the time.

According to police and local sources, a group of four to five unidentified men approached the workers and began questioning them about their identity. The Observer Post reported that the men allegedly accused the labourers of being Bangladeshi immigrants and demanded proof of identity. After the workers produced valid identity documents, the attackers reportedly dismissed them as fake and began assaulting the group.

Three of the workers managed to flee. Juel Shaikh was caught by the assailants and beaten severely. He sustained serious injuries and died at the spot. The attackers fled soon after the assault.

A police officer said the body was recovered from the scene and shifted to the district headquarters hospital morgue. Shaikh’s family has been informed of his death. The injured workers were admitted to hospital for treatment. A post-mortem examination of the deceased is scheduled to be conducted on Thursday.

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Ahmedabad (PTI): All that Abhishek Sharma needs is a start, but there hasn't been any discussion about the talented opener's wretched run in the T20 World Cup so far, bowling coach Morne Morkel said ahead of India's first Super Eights game against South Africa here on Sunday.

Abhishek is yet to open his account in the current edition of the tournament and during Friday's training, he was seen spending considerable time with head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Gambhir was seen trying to explain to him certain finer points and like a diligent student, the flamboyant southpaw nodded in agreement.

After that he went for a high catch session.

At times, excess training can prove to be counter productive and Abhishek was seen bowling to the other batters for better part of the game.

When asked if there's discussion in general within the team on Abhishek, Morkel denied emphatically.

"Absolutely no discussion. He's a world class player. So far in the tournament, luckily, there's been some guys standing up for Abhishek (others scoring runs)," Morkel told the media.

However, he agreed that Abhishek needs to score runs as they enter the business end of the tourney.

"But we're going through a very important phase of the World Cup now and we expect him to do well.

"And I'm pretty sure, not just for the team, but also for all the viewers watching the game. Because he's (Abhishek) entertaining, and we love to see that.

"So yeah, I'm pretty sure he's hitting the ball well. It's just a matter of getting that start and Abhishek will get going," Morkel said.