India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has been accused of trying to forcibly push alleged Bangladeshi nationals into Bangladesh at the Benapole border in Jashore. The “Bangladeshis” were born in India and had been living there for a long time.
From Sunday night, women, men and children were gathered in the Haridaspur area of India, opposite the Raghunathpur border at Benapole. When an attempt was made to bring them into Bangladesh, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) blocked it, and no one was able to cross.
According to border sources, many of those being sent across were born in India and have lived there for years. There are allegations that they were being pushed across without verification of their citizenship and identity. The BGB and BSF are on alert on both sides, and surveillance has been stepped up along the Benapole frontier.
Earlier, more than 100 people claiming to be Bangladeshi were reportedly handed over to the BGB after screening at the Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The BSF had begun the process of returning them after registering their identities and collecting biometric data.
No formal statement has yet come from the BGB or the relevant administration on the ongoing situation at the Benapole border.
Communication between the two countries’ border forces is continuing over the situation, local sources said, with the BGB on high alert to keep things normal.
Residents said more than 100 people were gathered in an orchard near the border on Sunday night, and that the BGB mounted resistance when an attempt was made to send them across, spreading panic in the area. Locals said they would stand by the BGB in securing the border.
Lt Col Golam Mohammad Saiful Alam Khan, commander of the Jashore 49 BGB Battalion, said the BSF had gathered 100 to 120 people in the border area, but that no one had entered Bangladesh illegally and the BGB was on the highest alert.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report