A bicycle store worker has died of injuries after he was clubbed with a bamboo pole when he confronted a returned migrant in the market and asked him why he was not conforming to quarantine norms in East Midnapore.

The death of 40-year-old Ashok Bera, a resident of Basudebpur village in East Midnapore’s Nandakumar, on Monday night comes at a time tension has been building up over fear and suspicion associated with the coronavirus.

Eyewitnesses said Ashok, who worked in a bicycle store, was hit repeatedly on the head with a bamboo pole by Tanmay Bera, 27, who flew into a rage after being questioned in public on Sunday. Ashok succumbed to the injuries on Monday.

Tanmay has been arrested and sent to police remand for seven days, Tamluk SDPO Atish Biswas said.

“Tanmay was roaming the market freely despite having returned from Maharashtra only on Friday. Ashok had publicly warned Tanmay that he would inform the district authorities about his behaviour,” an eyewitness said. A woman rushed to rescue Ashok but she was also beaten, the eyewitness said.

According to the Bengal government’s rules, migrants from five states, including Maharashtra, should be in institutional quarantine for 14 days. Those from other states can quarantine themselves at home for 14 days if they are asymptomatic.

Tanmay should have been in institutional quarantine till June 13 but could have slipped through the administrative cracks or escaped attention because of the sheer numbers. “We have received reports that some passengers who arrive by trains get off the buses before reaching the mandated government quarantine centres. They then walk home,” said a district official.

In Calcutta, a senior official said the state government has decided to take those flouting home quarantine advice to institutional quarantine centres.

“The measure had to be initiated to check the tendency to flout home quarantine norms,” the official said.

The spike in the number of Covid patients in Bengal that coincided with the Centre’s move to send back the migrants has deepened fears in several parts of Bengal, a state that accounts for many labourers who travel out of the state. Ostracism of returned migrants has been reported in the state.

In Nandakumar, Ashok and the injured woman, Ganga Bera, were rushed to the block health centre on Sunday night and then to Tamluk District Hospital. Ashok was later referred to a private nursing home where he died on Monday. Ganga was released from the district hospital with six stitches.

Former gram panchayat chief Manoranjan Jana, who owns the shop where Ashok worked, condemned the behaviour of a handful of migrant labourers. “Ashok was concerned about his friends and family, so he spoke out,” Jana said.