Delhi police have finally released seven persons of Cooch Behar, including three children, who used to be dwellers of erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, early on Wednesday.

Last Wednesday, they were detained by the Shalimar Bagh police station in Delhi as the police suspected them to be Bangladeshi infiltrators. They used to work in a brick kiln there.

Detainees Rezaul Haque, Samsul Haque, Samsul's brother Rabiul Haque and Rabiul's wife Rashida Begum, along with three children of Rabiul and Rashida — Ruman, Raihan and Rumana — were released.

Samsul over the phone said that around 1am, the police arranged a vehicle for them, which took them to their workplace, where they also stay.

“During police custody, we were not mistreated. We were provided appropriate food and accommodation,” he added.

The quartet used to stay at Dashiarchara, a former Indian enclave in the Kurigram district of Bangladesh. In 2015, all the 111 Indian enclaves merged with the Bangladesh mainland. However, 54 families — around 900 people — came to India from these enclaves according to the land boundary agreement signed between India and Bangladesh. They were given identity proofs by the Indian government and rehabilitated in apartments at Mekhliganj, Haldibari and Dinhata of Cooch Behar district.

Eventually, many persons migrated to various states for their livelihood.

Samsul said that last week, when they were at the brick kiln, they were suddenly called to the police station and told to furnish our identity proofs. "We handed over the necessary documents to them, but they detained us on suspicion that we are Bangladeshis,” Samsul said.

He said that along with their voter and Aadhaar cards, they furnished a temporary-travel-cum-identity pass issued to them by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

“The pass was issued to us so that we could enter India as we did not have Indian passports. The validity of the pass has ended, but we still carry it as proof. But the pass left some officers suspicious that we were Bangladeshis as they had never come across such a document before,” said Samsul.

He said that the police eventually realised that they were Indians and thus they were released.

A member of the group, who did not want to be named, said they will continue to work in the brick kiln. “We were not pushed into Bangladesh but were left at our workplaces. Hence we believe there will be no further problem in continuing our work here,” he said over the phone.

Sharmina Khatun, Samsul’s daughter who stays in Dinhata with her mother, said she was relieved after he called her and her mother on Wednesday morning to inform them about the release. "We had been spending sleepless nights. Now, the ordeal is over," she said.