A young couple allegedly “pushed back” by the BSF to Bangladesh on June 13 returned on Tuesday to their home in Bagdah, North 24-Parganas.
Migrant worker Fajar Mondal, 21, and his newlywed wife Tashlima Ishak Mondal, 19, were suspected of being Bangladeshi infiltrators by Maharashtra police, which detained the couple on June 10 in Mumbai. The Maharashtra police, in turn, handed over the couple to the BSF.
“The BSF took us to a porous border in North Dinajpur and ordered us to enter Bangladesh. They threatened to shoot if we tried to re-enter India,” alleged Fajar, who returned home on Tuesday following the Bengal government’s intervention.
He said that for four days, they had to stay in “no man’s land” as the Border Guard Bangladesh personnel also refused them entry. Eventually, he managed to contact his father over the phone “with the help of a kindhearted person”. His father reached out to the police and administration.
West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board chairperson Samirul Islam dubbed the case “horrific” as the “young couple was deported to Bangladesh despite showing valid documents”.