Three Bengal residents wrongly deported to Bangladesh, brought back after Mamata govt steps in

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Three residents of West Bengal, who were allegedly sent to Bangladesh by the Border Security Force (BSF) after being detained by Mumbai Police, were brought back to India on Sunday, The Times of India reported.

The West Bengal government had raised the issue with the Centre after learning about the incident. Two more people are still in the custody of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and are expected to return soon.

According to the report, Mumbai Police had picked up five men earlier this month, four from Murshidabad district (Minarul Sekh from Beldanga, Nazimuddin Mondal from Hariharpara, Mehboob Sheikh from Bhagwangola, and Dablu Sheikh from Ranitala), and one, Mustafa Kamal, from Monteswar in East Burdwan. These five were first taken to Cooch Behar and then pushed across the border into Bangladesh. They ended up in Lalmonirhat, where they were caught by the BGB.

On Saturday, three of them made a video from Bangladesh appealing to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for help to return home. Samirul Islam, Trinamool MP and head of the state’s migrant workers welfare board, said the CM was alerted about the issue and immediately directed officials to speak to the Centre and get the men back. A flag meeting was held between the BSF and BGB, and three, Sekh, Mondal, and Kamal, were handed over to Indian officials around 4 pm on Sunday. They are now in Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar.

Mani Bhusan Sarkar, OC of Mekhliganj Police Station told TOI, "They are tired and yet to recover from their state of trauma.”

MP Islam said, "Just because the five spoke Bengali, Mumbai Police tagged them Bangladeshis without verifying their identity and decided to pack them off to the border and handed them over to BSF, who also did not cross-check the documents of these poor migrant workers."

The Maharashtra Police had earlier defended their actions. Meghna Burade, Senior Inspector at Mira Road police station, said they were acting on orders to detain suspected illegal Bangladeshi migrants. “We asked Mehbub to show strong proof like a birth certificate. We don’t accept Aadhaar or PAN cards alone as proof of citizenship because they can be misused. He failed to show valid documents and didn’t give any family proof either,” The Indian Express quoted her as saying.