By Arshad Ahmed
Fourteen individuals were allegedly pushed back by the Border Security Forces (BSF) in the early hours of May 27 morning through the India-Bangladesh border area between Assam’s Mankachar district and Bangladesh’s Rowmari in Kurigram district.
This round of push was initially resisted by the Bangladeshi locals and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), which looks after the country’s border, leading to simmering tension and a standoff between the BSF and the BGB, sources from Rowmari told Maktoob.
As of the time of filing this story, officials from the Rowmari police station told Maktoob that these “Indian nationals” had been camping in the no-man’s land until midday on May 27, before the BGB took them to their camp in Boraibari, Kurigram, for verification of their nationalities.
Speaking to Maktoob, they said, “If they are Indians, why would Bangladesh accept them?” “These are not our people. BGB is dealing with them.”
Contacts with the BGB’s headquarters in Kurigram could not be established despite attempts.
These 14 individuals, including nine men and five women, were brought to the Transit camp, Matia, in Assam’s northern Goalpara district, on May 26 after they were picked up in an intense crackdown to screen ‘illegal immigrants’ from several districts in the state.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.