BSF detains Bangladeshi farmer, villagers retaliate by dragging back 2 Indians

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) detained a Bangladeshi farmer named Abdul Mannan, 70, from the Ichakhali border area in Meherpur Sadar upazila.

In protest, local residents detained two Indian nationals who were present in the border area.

The incident took place at around 8:00am today, Tuesday, at the Ichakhali border point in the upazila. Abdul Mannan is the son of the late Nur Box of Mosquepara in Ichakhali.

At around 2:00pm today, officials of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and BSF held a flag meeting over the incident.

Following the meeting, all three detainees were handed over to the border forces of their respective countries.

Lieutenant Colonel Nazmul Hasan, commander of the Chuadanga Battalion (6 BGB), told Prothom Alo that Abdul Mannan was returned at the flag meeting. The two Indian nationals detained by local residents were also handed over.

According to local residents, Abdul Mannan had been cultivating about one and a half bighas of land near the Ichakhali border for a long time, growing green chillies and other crops. When he went to the land on Tuesday morning to spray pesticides, BSF personnel took him away.

After news of the incident spread through Ichakhali village, local residents detained two Indian farmers in retaliation.

Ibrahim Khalilullah, Abdul Mannan’s grandson, told Prothom Alo, “After we learned that the BSF had detained my grandfather, we requested them to release him. But they did not let him go. As a result, people in the area became angry and dragged two Indian farmers into Bangladesh. One of them is Sachin Karmakar and the other is Narayan Deb.”

The BSF detained a 23-year-old Bangladeshi youth named Ajibor Rahman at the Bhurungamari border in Kurigram. He was detained after entering India shortly after midnight on Monday in the Donalar Math area of Kaziarchar in Shilkhuri union of the upazila. Ajibor Rahman is the son of Nurul Mia of Kaziarchar.

Several local residents said that shortly after midnight on Monday, a group of people entered India through an area near an international border pillar. They encountered BSF personnel there. While the others managed to flee and return to Bangladesh, Ajibor was detained by the BSF.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Mahbub-ul-Haque, commander of the Kurigram Battalion (22 BGB), said a Bangladeshi citizen had entered Indian territory and was subsequently detained by the BSF. Legal procedures are underway to bring him back to Bangladesh.