Bagdah couple wrongfully deported to B'desh returns
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Kolkata: A young migrant couple from Bagdah in North 24 Parganas, wrongfully deported to Bangladesh despite possessing valid Indian identity documents, finally returned home on Tuesday, after intervention by Bengal govt and West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board (WBMWWB).
BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh held a flag meeting to resolve the issue after state govt took up the matter with central agencies.
Fazer Mondal and his wife Taslima, residents of Hariharpur in Bagdah, went to Maharashtra nearly five months ago in search of work. Fazer secured a job at a construction site in Jan. On June 10, the couple was picked up by Nayanagar police during a drive targeting illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Despite showing cops their Aadhaar and voter ID cards, the couple's claims of Indian citizenship were dismissed.
Relief and joy washed over the Mondal household in Hariharpur on Tuesday. "I will never send my son to work as a migrant labourer again. We'll find work for him here," said Fazer's father, Tahajul. "If the administration did not act quickly, it would have taken much longer to bring them back. We are thankful to the CM, BSF and police personnel."
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Recalling the ordeal, Fazer said: "I was desperately trying to convince both Maharashtra police and BSF of my legal status. I showed them all my valid identity documents, but no one listened. We lost hope of ever returning, but I am grateful to everyone here that I am safely home."
The family said they had earlier got a call from Maharashtra police for additional identification documents, which were immediately sent.
Yet, the couple was not released, and all contact subsequently lost. The family later alleged that Fazer and Taslima were forcibly pushed into Bangladesh via the Raiganj border in North Dinajpur.
The couple was kept in Bhatari village in Bangladesh, along with several others who were similarly deported. The first confirmation of their location came when BGB contacted the Mondal family on Saturday.
Following panic and appeals from the family, the Bengal administration sprang into action.
Acting on instructions from CM Mamata Banerjee, WBMWWB officials, Bagdah police and Bagda MLA Madhurparna Thakur coordinated with North Dinajpur authorities and BSF. A flag meeting between BSF and BGB was convened on Sunday.
Late on Sunday, Fazel and Taslima were brought back into India through the Raiganj border and taken to Bhatol police outpost. The family came from Bagdah and they were reunited shortly after.
Samirul Islam, chairman of WBMWWB, said: "Besides Fazel and Taslima, five migrant workers from Malda, Murshidabad and East Burdwan — who were also wrongfully pushed into Bangladesh — have now been repatriated."
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