Latest news with #BorderGuardBangladesh
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
BSF jawan abducted, tied and filmed by Bangladeshi nationals, freed after flag meet
A BSF jawan on duty at the Chandni Chowk border post in West Bengal's Murshidabad district was forcibly dragged into Bangladesh early Wednesday morning while questioning a group of individuals suspected of infiltration. The soldier, identified as Shri Ganesh from the 71st Battalion, was posted near the India-Bangladesh international border under the Suti Police Station area. He was taken across the border by a group of Bangladeshi nationals in what is now being described as a serious cross-border breach. Captured, tied, and filmed in Bangladesh BSF sources confirmed that the jawan was captured and held in Satrashiya village in Bangladesh's Chapai Nawabganj district. He had been attempting to prevent an infiltration bid near Kathalia village when the group overpowered him. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. A video, widely shared online, showed the trooper tied to a banana tree in what appeared to be a remote location. Voices in the footage revealed verbal abuse. Some individuals allegedly assaulted him. Others reportedly intervened to prevent further harm and handed him over to the Border Guard Bangladesh. The BSF, however, denied reports of assault. They confirmed the jawan was unharmed. 'The jawan was trying to maintain a humane approach and had thus allowed the Bangladeshi nationals to come closer to him considering them normal villagers. But they turned out to be criminals and they overpowered him and took him inside. We will take stern measures to prevent such incidents in the future,' a BSF official said. Live Events Rescued after prompt flag meeting The BSF acted quickly after realising the jawan had been abducted. They contacted their counterparts in the Border Guard Bangladesh and demanded his immediate release. A flag meeting between both forces took place within hours. 'He was abducted by Bangladeshi nationals and was held captive, but was released within a couple of hours after we flagged the issue with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The jawan is now with us and doing fine,' a senior BSF official of the South Bengal Frontier told PTI. Following the flag meeting, the jawan was handed over to Indian authorities. He is now back with his unit. Earlier assumptions suggested that the BSF trooper may have crossed into Bangladesh accidentally while chasing suspected infiltrators. But the BSF enquiry has now confirmed that the soldier was still inside Indian territory when he was abducted. This clarification removes doubt and raises concerns about how such a breach could occur along a sensitive stretch of international border. Security review underway, questions remain The BSF is now reviewing standard procedures and security arrangements at the Chandni Chowk outpost and other vulnerable areas of the border. Investigations are ongoing to understand how the group managed to overpower an armed jawan and take him across the border. No official statement has yet been issued by the BSF beyond confirmation of the incident and recovery of the soldier. The authenticity of the viral video, although unverified by ET, has added pressure for both nations to re-examine cross-border cooperation mechanisms.
Mint
6 days ago
- Mint
BSF jawan abducted by Bangladeshi nationals in West Bengal's Murshidabad, released later
A BSF trooper was allegedly abducted by Bangladeshi nationals in West Bengal's Murshidabad district but was released a few hours later after intervention with the Border Guard Bangladesh, PTI reported citing officials. 'The incident took place in the early hours near Chandni Chowk, close to the Border Security Force camp in Sutiar, Nurpur in the district,' they said. PTI reported citing BSF sources, that the jawan was trying to stop an infiltration attempt from the Bangladesh side near Kathalia village when he was captured by miscreants from Bangladesh's Chapai Nawabganj district. 'He was abducted by Bangladeshi nationals and was held captive, but was released within a couple of hours after we flagged the issue with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The jawan is now with us and doing fine,' a senior BSF official of the South Bengal Frontier told PTI. The trooper was handed over to the Indian authorities after a flag meeting between the two border forces. Investigations are currently underway to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, the sources told PTI. The BSF is reviewing security protocols in the area, but is yet to issue an official statement on the incident. (This is a developing story) Key Takeaways The incident underscores ongoing security challenges along the India-Bangladesh border. Quick diplomatic communication can lead to rapid resolution in cross-border incidents. The cooperation between BSF and BGB is crucial for maintaining peace at the border.
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Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Bangladesh says India pushes back 1,200 people
A demonstrator gestures as protesters clash with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the police outside the state-owned Bangladesh Television as violence erupts across the country after anti-quota protests by students, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 19, 2024. PHOTO:REUTERS Bangladesh said on Wednesday that neighbouring India has pushed more than 1,270 people across its border in the past month, mainly Bangladeshis, but also Indian citizens and Rohingya refugees. Bangladesh, largely encircled by land by India, has seen relations with New Delhi turn icy since a mass uprising toppled Dhaka's previous government last year. "Between May 7 and June 3, Indian authorities pushed in 1,272 individuals, including a few Indian citizens and Rohingya, through 19 bordering districts", Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials said. "Only yesterday, they pushed 50 individuals." India's Hindu nationalist government has often described undocumented immigrants as "Muslim infiltrators", accusing them of posing a security threat. India has not commented on the recent returns across their shared border. Bangladeshi Jahidul Molla, 21, said he was among those sent back, saying he had been living in India's western state of Gujarat since he was 14.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
'I was pushed across the border into Bangladesh at gunpoint'
Shona Banu still shudders when she thinks of the past few days. The 58-year-old, a resident of Barpeta district in India's north-eastern state of Assam, says that she was called to the local police station on 25 May and later taken to a point at the border with neighbouring Bangladesh. From there, she says, she and around 13 other people were forced to cross over to Bangladesh. She says she was not told why. But it was a scenario she had been dreading - Ms Banu says she has lived in Assam all her life but for the past few years, she has been desperately trying to prove that she is an Indian citizen and not an "illegal immigrant" from Bangladesh. "They pushed me over at gunpoint. I spent two days without food or water in the middle of a field in knee-deep water teeming with mosquitoes and leeches," Ms Banu said, wiping away tears. After those two days in no man's land - between India and Bangladesh - she says she was taken to what appeared to be an old prison on the Bangladeshi side. After two days there, she and a few others - she is not sure if all of them were from the same group sent with her - were escorted by Bangladeshi officials across the border, where Indian officials allegedly met them and sent them home. It's not clear why Ms Banu was abruptly sent to Bangladesh and then brought back. But her case is among a spate of recent instances where officials in Assam have rounded up people declared foreigners by tribunals in the past - on suspicion of being "illegal Bangladeshis" - and sent them across the border. The BBC found at least six cases where people said their family members had been picked up, taken to border towns and just "pushed across". Officials from India's Border Security Force, the Assam police and the state government did not respond to questions from the BBC. Crackdowns on alleged illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are not new in India - the countries are divided by a 4,096km (2,545 miles) long porous border which can make it relatively easy to cross over, even though many of the sensitive areas are heavily guarded. But it's still rare, lawyers working on these cases say, for people to be picked up from their homes abruptly and forced into another country without due process. These efforts seem to have intensified over the past few weeks. The Indian government has not officially said how many people were sent across in the latest exercise. But top sources in the Bangladesh administration claim that India "illegally pushed in" more than 1,200 people into the country in May alone, not just from Assam but also other states. Out of this, they said on condition of anonymity, Bangladesh identified 100 people as Indian citizens and sent them back. In a statement, the Border Guard Bangladesh said it had increased patrolling along the border to curb these attempts. India has not commented on these allegations. While media reports indicate that the recent crackdown includes Rohingya Muslims living in other states too, the situation is particularly tense and complex in Assam, where issues of citizenship and ethnic identity have long dominated politics. The state, which shares a nearly 300km-long border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, has seen waves of migration from the neighbouring country as people moved in search of opportunities or fled religious persecution. This has sparked the anxieties of Assamese people, many of whom fear this is bringing in demographic change and taking away resources from locals. The Bharatiya Janata Party - in power in Assam and nationally - has repeatedly promised to end the problem of illegal immigration, making the state's National Register of Citizens (NRC) a priority in recent years. The register is a list of people who can prove they came to Assam by 24 March 1971, the day before neighbouring Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan. The list went through several iterations, with people whose names were missing given chances to prove their Indian citizenship by showing official documents to quasi-judicial forums called Foreigners Tribunals. After a chaotic process, the final draft published in 2019 excluded nearly two million residents of Assam - many of them were put in detention camps while others have appealed in higher courts against their exclusion. Ms Banu said her case is pending in the Supreme Court but that authorities still forced her to leave. The BBC heard similar stories from at least six others in Assam - all Muslims - who say their family members were sent to Bangladesh around the same time as Ms Banu, despite having necessary documents and living in India for generations. At least four of them have now come back home, with no answers still about why they were picked up. A third of Assam's 32 million residents are Muslims and many of them are descendants of immigrants who settled there during British rule. Maleka Khatun, a 67-year-old from Assam's Barpeta who is still in Bangladesh, says she has temporarily been given shelter by a local family. "I have no-one here," she laments. Her family has managed to speak to her but don't know if and when she can return. She lost her case in the foreigners' tribunal and in the state's high court and hadn't appealed in the Supreme Court. Days after the recent round of action began, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma cited a February Supreme Court direction which ordered the government to start deportation proceedings for people who had been "declared foreigners" but were still held in detention centres. "The people who are declared foreigners but haven't even appealed in court, we are pushing them back," Sarma said. He also claimed that people with pending court appeals were not being "troubled". But Abdur Razzaque Bhuyan, a lawyer working on many citizenship cases in Assam, alleged that in many of the recent instances, due process - which would, among other things, require India and Bangladesh to cooperate on the action - was not followed. "What is happening is a wilful and deliberate misinterpretation of the court order," he said. Mr Bhuyan recently filed a petition on behalf of a student organisation seeking the Supreme Court's intervention in stopping what they said was a "forceful and illegal pushback policy" but was asked to first approach the Assam high court. In Morigaon, around 167km from Barpeta, Rita Khatun sat near a table which had a pile of papers on it. Her husband Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old school teacher, was in the same group as Ms Banu that was allegedly picked up by authorities. A tribunal had declared him a foreigner in 2016, after which he spent two years in a detention centre before being released. Like Ms Banu, his case is also being heard in the Supreme Court. "Every document is proof that my husband is Indian," Ms Khatun said, leafing through what she said was Mr Islam's high school graduation certificate and some land records. "But that wasn't enough to prove his nationality to authorities." She says her husband, his father and grandfather were all born in India. But on 23 May, she says that policemen arrived at their home and took Mr Islam away without any explanation. It was only a few days later - when a viral video surfaced of a Bangladeshi journalist interviewing Mr Islam in no man's land - that the family learnt where he was. Like Ms Banu, Mr Islam has now been sent back to India. While his family confirmed his return, the police told the BBC they had "no information" about his arrival. Sanjima Begum says she is sure her father was declared a foreigner due to a case of mistaken identity - he was also taken on the same night as Mr Islam. "My father's name is Abdul Latif, my grandfather was Abdul Subhan. The notice that came [years ago, from the foreigners' tribunal] said Abdul Latif, son of Shukur Ali. That's not my grandfather, I don't even know him," Ms Begum said, adding that she had all the necessary documents to prove her father's citizenship. The family has now heard that Mr Latif is back in Assam, but he hasn't reached home yet. While some of these people are back home now, they fear they might be picked up again abruptly. "We are not playthings," Ms Begum said. "These are human beings, you can't toss them around as per your whims." Additional reporting by Aamir Peerzada and Pritam Roy
The Print
6 days ago
- General
- The Print
Dhaka to send fresh diplomatic note to New Delhi as India steps up effort to deport illegal immigrants
'We see it (deportation) is happening. It is not feasible to resist physically,' he said, stressing the need for diplomatic and legal processes to be followed in resolving consular issues. Speaking to reporters at the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hossain confirmed the note would be 'substantive' and sent 'today or tomorrow'. New Delhi: Bangladesh will issue a fresh diplomatic note to India in response to the 'continued push-in' of people across the border, country's Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said Tuesday, amid a rise in deportations of undocumented Bangladeshi nationals from India as it looks to bolster its internal security. When asked whether the language of the letter would be conciliatory or resemble a protest note, he replied, 'That depends on how it is viewed.' The diplomatic communication is expected to seek clarity on New Delhi's repatriation procedures, request prior notification for deportations, and propose the activation of formal bilateral frameworks to manage such movements more systematically. According to a Daily Star report citing the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) headquarters, at least 1,053 individuals have been deported to Bangladesh from India through various border points. India has intensified its effort to deport illegal immigrants and dismantle suspected sleeper cells after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 tourists. According to reports based on sources in New Delhi, more than 2,000 Bangladeshi nationals have been deported over the past month. Many more are reported to have voluntarily left the country, fearing arrest or legal consequences. The deportations have largely been concentrated in border states like Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam. Some have been deported from the national capital as well. Hossain said Bangladesh is examining each case individually, and only accepting returnees after verification of their nationality. He noted that India has provided a list of individuals it claims are Bangladeshi citizens. 'There is a mechanism on consular issues, and using the mechanism, Dhaka is trying to bring it under the set rules,' he said. Earlier, Bangladesh sent a note 8 May, the first time it lodged a diplomatic protest over this issue. While New Delhi continues to defend the legality of its actions, Dhaka has expressed concerns about what it terms lack of prior consultation. Hossain reiterated that structured dialogue and adherence to established consular norms are essential to prevent further diplomatic strain. Separately, Hossain Tuesday dismissed speculation about any developments concerning the deportation of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted and now faces charges at the International Crimes Tribunal for alleged crimes against humanity during the July mass uprising against her government. 'There has been no development,' Hossain said in response to a media query. In its 8 May note, Dhaka expressed alarm over the 'forced entry' of around 300 individuals, including Rohingyas, into Bangladeshi territory between 7 and 9 May through remote border points in Khagrachhari, Moulvibazar, Kurigram and the Sundarbans. The foreign ministry said that such 'unilateral actions' breach multiple agreements, including the 2011 Coordinated Border Management Plan. Bangladesh said it will only accept those conclusively identified as its citizens through legal procedures. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: From Delhi, Jaipur to Pune, rampant misuse of Aadhaar uncovered in drives against illegal Bangladeshis
