[1][3] Once the Left Front came to power in 1977, the refugees from Dandakaranya camps started to return to independent Bangladesh in large numbers.
[6] In Marichjhapi, they attained self-sufficiency in fishing for food and had built schools and clinics on their own but had to travel to nearby Islands for obtaining grain and clean drinking water.
The government considered the refugee settlements an unauthorized occupation of a reserved forest land and a report was published that a subsequent chain of migrations could result in a severe ecological disaster.
[9] On 24 January 1979, the Government of West Bengal clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC around the island of Marichjhapi.
[9][11] Ananda Marga, a religious organisation,[12] is also suspected to have had a hand in sparking the violence, the organization was active in the region, allegedly involved in smuggling and would frequently get into conflict with the native tribal community.
[13][8] After 15 days, the Calcutta High Court ruled that "The supply of drinking water, essential food items and medicines as well as the passage of doctors must be allowed to Marichjhapi".
[3][1] In the end the official figure put the deaths at 2 to 8, considered to be a significant under-estimation but the lack of a proper investigation has led to various highly exaggerated accounts to circulate on the killing, years afterwards.