BSF hands over 15 Bangladeshis at Satkhira border

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday evening handed over 15 Bangladeshi nationals, including five children and eight women, to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at the Hakimpur border in West Bengal.

A flag meeting between the two border forces was held at the zero line of Taluigachha border in Satkhira Sadar upazila around 6:30 pm.

During the meeting, BSF handed over the 15 Bangladeshis to BGB, who later handed them to Satkhira Sadar police station around 9:30 pm.

One of the returnees said they had entered India without passports in search of work and had lived there for a long period. Facing deteriorating circumstances recently, they decided to return to Bangladesh.

He further said BSF detained them on Monday morning while they were attempting to enter the country through the Hakimpur border.

Speaking about this, Satkhira Sadar police station officer-in-charge Shamimul Haque said BSF had detained the 15 people at the Hakimpur check post area in Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district at around 10:00 am on Monday.

Later in the evening, a flag meeting was held, led by BSF’s Amudia Company Commander Inspector Bikash Kumar and BGB 33 Battalion’s Taluigachha BOP Commander Naib Subedar Abul Kashem. After the meeting, the detainees were officially handed over to BGB, he added.

Authorities confirmed that the returnees would be released to their families following verification procedures.