BSF attempts to ‘push in’ 13, including women and children, through Jashore border

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has attempted to push 13 people, including women and children, into Bangladesh through the Sadipur border in Sharsha upazila of Jashore.

However, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said the group was unable to enter the country due to heightened vigilance along the frontier.

The 13 individuals are currently stranded in the no-man’s-land between Bangladesh and India. Neither country has allowed them to cross the border. As of Monday evening, they were seen remaining under the open sky in the border area.

A flag meeting at deputy commander level between the BGB and BSF was held at the Sadipur border on Monday evening following the incident.

Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Alam Khan, commanding officer of the Jashore-49 BGB Battalion, told Prothom Alo, “The BSF attempted to push at least 13 people into Bangladesh last night. We will not allow them to enter Bangladesh. We made our firm position clear during the flag meeting.”

He added, “We have informed the BSF that if they are Bangladeshi citizens, they should be sent through the proper state-to-state process, in which case we will accept them. Otherwise, we will not tolerate attempts to push them across the border illegally. We will not allow anyone to cross Bangladesh’s zero line unlawfully.”

According to BGB sources, the BSF opened a gate in the border fence in the Jayantipur border area of India’s North 24 Parganas district on Sunday night and attempted to send several women, men and children into Bangladesh. They were gathered near the Sadipur border area along the Benapole frontier.

Sensing the move, a BGB patrol team that had already been on alert quickly reached the spot and foiled the attempt.