Two children and their parents, among nine people stranded in the no man’s land along two stretches of the border in Roumari upazila of Kurigram for four days after an attempted pushback, are no longer at the site. Local residents believe India’s Border Security Force (BSF) removed them at some point on humanitarian grounds.
According to local accounts, six people, including two children and a woman, had been seen for four days in the no man’s land at the Goytapara border, and three young men at the Ijlamari Bhandurchar border. But on Thursday morning, June 18, residents who went to the Goytapara border found that the two children and their parents were gone.
Residents said the two children and their parents were removed late Wednesday night or early Thursday, given the children’s vulnerable condition. There was no confirmed information on which country they were taken to.
Mustafizar, a local resident, said he had seen six people at the Goytapara border the previous day. “Today I went and found the two children and their parents were not there,” he said.
After the four, including the two children, were removed, two young men who faced the pushback attempt remain at the Goytapara border. Three more young men are still in the no man’s land at the Bhandurchar border in the same upazila. In all, five people now remain at the two border points.
According to local sources, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the BSF are on alert around the five people.
On Sunday morning, the BSF tried to push six people across the border at Roumari’s Goytapara point and three at the Bhandurchar point, residents said. They were forced to take position in the no man’s land after BGB and local residents blocked the move.
Roumari police station’s officer-in-charge, Kawsar Ali, was called several times on his mobile phone but did not answer.
Lt. Col. Hasanur Rahman, commander of the Jamalpur 35 BGB Battalion, was contacted several times for comment but could not be reached.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report