Over 170 Bangladeshis pushed back from India; count rises to 742 since May 7

Hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals have been pushed back from India into Bangladesh over the past week, with 172 people forced across the border in just 24 hours through entry points in Meherpur, Sylhet, and Moulvibazar, according to police and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

According to the leading news agency, Asia News Network, in Meherpur’s Mujibnagar upazila, 19 people — including nine children, five women, and five men — were pushed through the Sonapur Majhpara border early May 25.

After crossing into Bangladesh, they sought shelter near the BRTC counter at Kedar Ganj Bazar, said Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Mujibnagar Police Station.

“On information, police took them into custody,” the OC said, adding, “members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) from the Mujibnagar camp also reached the scene.”

Initial statements from the group revealed that they had entered India illegally at various times in search of employment and had been residing in Haryana.

They were detained around a week ago by Indian authorities in multiple locations and later imprisoned in Berhampore, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, before being deported via the border.

Authorities said legal procedures are being initiated against those detained.

Meanwhile, 153 more Bangladeshi nationals — including 49 men, 53 women, and 51 children from 27 families — were detained by BGB in Sylhet and Moulvibazar between May 24 and the morning of May 25.

They had been pushed in by India’s Border Security Force (BSF).

“After Saturday’s push in through the Kanaighat border, we increased our vigilance in the border. However, the BSF managed to push in 153 people through five points in the border between 2:00am and 8:30am,” said Lt Col Mehedi Hasan, commanding officer of BGB-52 (Beanibazar) Battalion.

According to him, 32 people were intercepted in Sylhet’s Beanibazar upazila and 121 in Moulvibazar’s Barlekha upazila.

“The BSF switched off the security lights they installed in their part of the border and pushed in these people. After we detained them, we confirmed their nationalities as Bangladeshi and, considering the humanitarian ground, detained and later handed them to the police,” he said.

He added, “The detainees said that they were working at different brick fields or stone quarries in Gujarat for years, and Indian police detained them as illegal immigrants. They were gathered near the Sylhet border on May 4. Since then, the BSF has been trying to push them in through different borders.”

“Though BSF officially refuses involvement, we have called a company commander-level meeting to protest such activities,” he said.

On May 24, over 20 people were similarly detained at the Kanaighat border in Sylhet after being pushed in.

A similar incident occurred on May 14, when 16 Bangladeshis were sent back through the same border and later handed to relatives after verification.

According to BGB headquarters, a total of 742 Bangladeshi nationals have been pushed back by Indian authorities since May 7.

The returnees entered through borders in Khagrachhari, Kurigram, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Cumilla, Feni, and Jhenidah districts.

An additional 78 were pushed through remote areas of the Sundarbans near Mandarbaria.