Local residents and police in Chuadanga’s Jibannagar have detained a total of seven people, including an Indian national, after they illegally entered Bangladesh through the Benipur border. Five of them had crossed the border, while the other two are reported to be local facilitators who had helped them.
Jibannagar police, with the help of local residents, detained the group in the Jibannagar bus stand area around 6:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 19, after they crossed the barbed-wire fence at the Benipur border into Bangladesh.
Among those detained, four are Bangladeshi nationals: Abdus Shukur Khan of Sharankhola, Bagerhat; Sharmin Akter Rumi and Hamida of Sylhet; and Noyon of Chandpur. The other detained individual, Niyan, is reportedly a resident of Kolkata, India, according to initial information. Two local facilitators, Hasibul and Asmaul, were also detained on allegations of helping people cross the border.
The detained individuals said they had gone to Bangalore, India, in search of work. There, they said, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) detained them and took them to the border, held them at a camp, and later forced them (“pushed” them) into Bangladesh through the Benipur border.
Local residents grew suspicious as the group headed toward Jibannagar town after crossing the border and stopped and detained them. After being alerted, Jibannagar police quickly reached the scene and took all seven, including the two facilitators, to the police station.
Jibannagar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Solaiman Sheikh said the identities of the detained individuals and the circumstances of the border crossing are being closely verified. Legal action will be taken against them once the initial investigation is complete.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report