6 Bangladeshis, who entered India by mistake, sent home

Agartala, Nov 18 (IANS) Six Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged condition, were reunited with their families on Thursday after many years of medical treatment in Tripura.

The Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Agartala, Mohammad Jobayed Hosen, who coordinated the repatriation of the six Bangladeshis, including three women, through the Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) check-post, said that after completing the legal and diplomatic formalities they have been handed over to their families.

"There are some other mentally challenged Bangladeshi nationals being treated in the Modern Psychiatry Hospital. After we get the ‘Fit for Discharge' certificate from the hospital, we would take the next course of action about them," Hosen told IANS.

He said that various authorities obtained information about the six people and their families.

On Thursday, the parents, husbands, sisters and brothers of Jiarul Islam, Hanifa Aqtar, Alpana Khatun, Rina Aqtar, Manik Mia and Shajan Mia came to the Agartala-Akhaura check-post to receive them.

The repatriated Bangladeshi nationals are residents of six districts -- Kishoreganj, Bagura, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Jamalpur and Moulvibazar.

Indian and Bangladeshi officials including Hosen and Akhaura Upazila Executive Officer Rumana Akhter were present at the emotionally charged event.

Tripura based Modern Psychiatry Hospital in-charge Swapan Barman said that the six Bangladesh nationals were treated in the hospital for four to five years and after they were found mentally stable their deportation process started through the Indian and Bangladesh governments.

"Around 16 more Bangladeshi psychologically challenged patients are now being treated in the Modern Psychiatry Hospital. After we find them mentally fit, we will submit their names and other details to both the Bangladesh and Indian governments," Barman told IANS.

Many Bangladeshi nationals including women and children are often apprehended by the Border Security Force and other security forces when they inadvertently cross the international border.