BSF ends border standoff, says illegals sent to Bangladesh

A high-stakes standoff between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at four points along the India-Bangladesh border in Bengal ended abruptly overnight, with all 40-odd Bangladeshi nationals who had been stranded at zero points since Friday disappearing by Saturday morning.

The most tense confrontation unfolded at Pillar No. 134 in Panishala, in Cooch Behar's Mekhliganj, where 10 people had been stranded after BGB refused to accept them, claiming they were being "illegally pushed back" from India.

When BSF sought a flag meeting, BGB declined. After hours of standoff and a major altercation in the early hours of Saturday, BGB backed down. BSF said all those stranded had since returned to Bangladesh.

Even as the immediate standoffs were resolved, BGB on Saturday claimed to have foiled eight separate BSF "push-back" attempts in the preceding 24 hours, issuing an official statement through its public relations officer Shariful Islam.

A similar pattern played out at three other locations - Sitalkuchi and Dinhata in Cooch Behar and Sakati in Jalpaiguri Sadar - where around 30 more Bangladeshi nationals, including women and children, had been stranded through Friday before vanishing overnight.

In a video that surfaced during the standoff, purportedly showing a BSF-BGB exchange in front of the stranded individuals, a woman is seen saying she was from Khulna and wanted to return to her village. Sources said BSF used the footage to press BGB into accepting them back.

Among the incidents BGB cited in their statement, three individuals were stopped at the Jadabpur border near North 24 Parganas and Nadia; 17 were turned back at the Karmudanga border near South Dinajpur; 21 were blocked at the Barkhata and Payashottibari border near Dhubri in Assam; and seven were prevented from crossing at the Dighaltari border near Cooch Behar. "Eight separate attempts were foiled as a result of heightened alertness, intensified patrols and immediate preventive measures," the BGB statement said.

The episode unfolded against the backdrop of the new BJP govt in West Bengal accelerating the identification and deportation of undocumented Bangladeshi nationals.

The Centre on Friday also asked Dhaka to expedite the verification process for suspected illegal immigrants to facilitate deportations. BSF has since stepped up vigil along the border.