Nearly 148 Indians continue to languish in Bangladeshi prisons despite completing their jail terms as procedural delays debarred their return home, officials said on Monday.

A prison official said 152 foreigners, including 148 Indians, were languishing in Bangladeshi prisons even though they had completed their jail terms, according to prison statistics published six months ago.

The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said several of these foreign inmates had completed their terms years ago; however, the official identification process alongside bureaucratic or diplomatic inaction prolonged their captivity.

He said a large number of the Indian inmates were detained on charges such as illegal cross-border entry.

News portal Bdnews24.com on Monday reported 17 Indians continued to languish in the southwestern Shariatpur District Jail alone despite the completion of their prison terms, with the correction centre officials saying their repatriation remained stalled.

The inmates could not be released as their identities remain unverified, while repeated attempts to contact the Indian Embassy yielded no response, the report said.

Jailer Papiya Sultana told the outlet that police had detained 20 people at different times near the Padma Bridge in 2022 and 2023, and they were later sent to prison on court orders.

She said that though they completed their sentences, they were still in captivity with the status of “release prisoners” or RP since the verification and repatriation process remained incomplete.

“Among them, Indian nationals, identified as Satyendra Kumar and Babul Singh, died in jail on February 2, 2024, while another inmate, known only as Rajan, died on May 29, 2025,” she said.

Prison officials said the bodies of the three inmates were kept for a long period in the morgue of Shariatpur Sadar Hospital, and following legal formalities, two bodies were cremated locally in January 2025, while the third was cremated in December the same year.

According to the report, Shariatpur prison currently holds 14 men and three women Indian nationals, with many of them facing language barriers.

Prison officials also say some inmates are refusing to eat properly, raising concerns over their health.

Shariatpur district bar association general secretary Mridha Nazrul Kabir said the issue required coordinated efforts by the foreign and law ministries so the inmates could return to their families and homeland.

Prison officials in Dhaka said apart from India, inmates awaiting repatriation include citizens of Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria.