India returns 27 Bangladeshis

India has sent back 27 Bangladeshis after they served three years in prison for illegally entering the country. They were handed over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) by India’s Border Security Force on Friday night at the Benapole Land Port in Jessore’s Sharsha upazila. Benapole Checkpost’s BGB Camp Commander Md Abdullah said the Bangladeshis had returned on special passes provided by India. He said the Bangladeshis were arrested from Kerala where they had been looking for jobs. They were sentenced to three years in prison. Human traffickers had sent them to India, luring them with fake offers of well-paid jobs there, said the BGB official. Benapole Port police OC Kaiyum Ali Sarder said they had received custody of the 27 Bangladeshis. They will be released on Saturday following due process of law, he said. Police identified the 27 who returned as Alal Uddin, 42, Firoz Ahmed, 21, Saddam Hossain, 22, Intaj Ali, 28, Sumon Hossain, 22, ‘Bishu’, 20, Hamidul Haq, 30, Saidul Islam, 25, Rubel Ali, 28, Zakir Hossain, 20, Rubel Hossain, 23, Aktarul Kabir, 28, ‘Shariful’, 25, Abbas Ali, 20, Monir Hossain, 25, Abul Bashar, 25, Zahir Hossain, 21, Abdul Khalek, 32, Yad Ali, 31, Moyeen Ali, 22, Ali Azam, 32, Saidul Islam, 43, ‘Lalon’, 20, ‘Runu’, 20, Sayeed Ali, 30, Shariful Islam, 30, and Bazlur Rahman, 42. Thirteen of them are from Bagerhat, 12 from Kushtia, one each from Rajshahi and Meherpur. Every year, a number of Bangladeshis venture into neighbouring India to try to get jobs but many of them end up in jails, according to bdnews24.com.