BSF pushes 9 more Individuals through Kushtia border
The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has pushed back nine individuals, including women and children, into Bangladesh through the Bhagojat border area of Kushtia's Daulatpur upazila.
The incident occurred early Saturday morning (31 May), when locals spotted a boat dropping off the individuals near the border area. The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel later took them into custody for questioning.
The BGB did manage to confirm they were all Bangladeshis, with their citizenship status 'active', reports UNB quoting Lt Col Mahbub Murshed Rahman, commanding officer of Kushtia-47 BGB Battalion.
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The detainees hail from Fulbari and Nageshwari upazilas of Kurigram district.
They are Md Enamul Haque, 42, Mosammat Shefali Khatun, 35, Md Liton, 17, Md Abu Bakkar Siddiq, 14, Mosammat Khushi Khatun, 11, Md Saiful Islam, 65, Mosammat Rima, 55, Mosammat Taslima, 14 and Md Abdul Hamid, 9.
According to a BGB press release, the group was seen disembarking from a boat roughly three kilometres inside Bangladeshi territory from border pillar 154. Locals, suspicious of their sudden appearance, reported the matter to the nearest BGB camp.
During questioning, the individuals revealed that they had illegally entered India nearly four years ago via the Bhurungamari border in Kurigram. They had been working as labourers in brick kilns in Delhi and recently expressed a desire to return home.
They reportedly contacted local Indian authorities and voluntarily requested repatriation.
The BGB has temporarily housed the returnees at a local camp and plans to hand them over to Daulatpur police.
Meanwhile, a flag meeting was held around 10:30am between the BGB and BSF. At the meeting, BGB officials strongly protested the unauthorised pushback and demanded an explanation.
While BSF officials denied direct involvement, they assured that in the future, any such repatriation would follow proper legal channels and procedures, BGB said.
However, BGB confirmed in the press release that arrangements are being made to return the individuals to India through official protocols in coordination with BSF during a scheduled flag meeting tomorrow.
