7 enclave-dwellers released by Delhi police after being mistaken for Bangladeshis

Seven individuals from Cooch Behar, including three children, were released early Wednesday (2 July) by Delhi police, nearly a week after they were detained on suspicion of being Bangladeshi infiltrators.

According to a report by The Telegraph India, the group — all former residents of the erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh — had been working at a brick kiln in Delhi when they were picked up by officers from Shalimar Bagh police station last Wednesday.

The released individuals include Rezaul Haque, Samsul Haque, Samsul's brother Rabiul Haque and Rabiul's wife Rashida Begum, along with their three children Ruman, Raihan and Rumana.

Speaking over the phone, Samsul said, "During police custody, we were not mistreated. We were provided appropriate food and accommodation."

He added that around 1am on Wednesday, the police arranged a vehicle to return them to their workplace, where they also reside.

The group originally lived in Dashiarchara, one of the 111 Indian enclaves in the Kurigram district of Bangladesh that merged with the mainland following the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh. 

As part of the agreement, 54 families — comprising around 900 individuals — opted to relocate to India and were provided identity documents by the Indian government, along with housing in Mekhliganj, Haldibari, and Dinhata areas of Cooch Behar.

In search of employment, many of these individuals have since migrated to other Indian states. Samsul explained that while working at the brick kiln last week,

"We were suddenly called to the police station and told to furnish our identity proofs. We handed over the necessary documents to them, but they detained us on suspicion that we are Bangladeshis."

The documents they presented included voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, and a temporary-travel-cum-identity pass issued by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, which had allowed them to enter India in the absence of passports.

"The pass was issued to us so that we could enter India as we did not have Indian passports. The validity of the pass has ended, but we still carry it as proof. But the pass left some officers suspicious that we were Bangladeshis as they had never come across such a document before," Samsul said.

He added that the police eventually understood their situation and confirmed their Indian citizenship, leading to their release.

One of the group members, requesting anonymity, said they would continue working at the brick kiln.

 "We were not pushed into Bangladesh but were left at our workplaces. Hence we believe there will be no further problem in continuing our work here."

Back in Dinhata, Samsul's daughter Sharmina Khatun expressed relief upon hearing from her father, "We had been spending sleepless nights. Now, the ordeal is over."