Each year, the BSF turns over to the Boundary Guards Bangladesh (BGB) a small number of men and women who have been detained along the international border between Bangladesh and India without detaining them.
At least 19 Bangladeshi people, including 13 women, were detained on September 15 by Border Security Force (BSF) patrolling soldiers near the international border in West Bengal.
Following questioning, it became clear that each of them had entered India illegitimately on different times.
While the majority were going back to India for work, some of them were going back to their homes in Bangladesh.
In several cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, they primarily worked as wage labourers and rag collectors.
They were not detained and turned over to the police, as is customary, by the border patrol.
An important BSF official stated that they were instead given to the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) as a “goodwill gesture”.
Despite being one of the most porous frontiers in any Indian state, the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal is where this incidence occurred.
Three Bangladeshi people, including a six-year-old child, were detained by BSF personnel just two days later, on September 17, as they attempted to enter India through the North 24 Parganas neighbourhood, which is close to Kolkata.
BSF discovered that while Rabina Akbar, 28, was heading to Delhi for business, Rehana Mondol, 32, disclosed that she and her daughter were travelling to India for medical care.
They were all turned over to BGB.
The BGB receives a small number of these men and women who are apprehended at the border each year without being detained.
The BSF intercepted over 11,750 people in south Bengal along the Indo-Bangla border between 2017 and 2022, according to data released by the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier (till October 12).
At least 1,178 of these individuals evaded capture. They were all given to BGB. Although the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier returned 378 people to BGB in 2017, the pattern shows that number fell to 297 in 2018.
In 2019, it fell even further, to 22.
But since then, there has been an upward tendency. In 2020, at least 51 persons were handed up to the BGB.
Last year, the number exploded to 135; as of October this year, it had increased to 295.
According to BSF spokespeople, this year’s total is expected to top 300 by year’s end, which would be a record high since 2017.
On September 18, the BSF once more turned over to the BGB seven Bangladeshi fishermen who had gone into Indian seas in the Murshidabad district.
BSF official statement
“It all depends on the policy of the Union home ministry. Earlier, (around 2017) the centre had a rather softer stand and hence more people were handed over to BGB. But later the centre changed its approach and took a stricter stand following which more people were arrested and a fewer were handed over to BGB. Over the past three to four years, again the centre took a lenient stand so that people with no criminal records are not arrested,”.
“Even though India and Bangladesh share a very cordial relation it may happen sometimes that the border guarding agency of the neighbouring country may not be ready to accept a person who was caught in India while crossing over. But now-a-days with the advent of smart phones and its reach, it has become easier to prove the identity of the apprehended person. Soon after a person is apprehended his family members, relatives and neighbours are contacted and they are asked to send his identity proofs,” .
“BSF, over the past few years, is showing a more humane and softer attitude when it comes to dealing with people who do not have any criminal antecedents. Such cases are rising as BSF has been handed over more territory. They now have to deal with more villagers who reside at least 50 km inland. Hence they need to keep in mind the socio-economic condition of the villagers to deal with them more effectively. Several people, caught along this porous border, have their relatives living in Indian bordering villages,”.
According to the Prison Statistics of India-2021 report by the National Crime Records Bureau, 5,565 foreigners were housed in the nation’s correctional facilities as of the end of 2021.
In its correctional facilities, West Bengal houses the most foreign prisoners and foreign defendants.
In West Bengal, there are 1,170 people awaiting trial and at least 329 international criminals.
The majority of the foreign defendants and inmates were from Bangladesh.
1,735 Bangladeshi undertrials and 505 criminals were detained in Indian prisons.
The longest international border of a state in the nation is the one between India and Bangladesh in West Bengal.
West Bengal alone shares 2,216 km of the 4,096.7 km long Indo-Bangla border with the neighbouring nation.
Additionally, it has the nation’s most permeable border.
The boundary in south Bengal is more than 900 km long, with over 60% of that being riverine.
police official statement
“The police get involved only when BSF hands over a person caught along the border. If BSF hands over any person, apprehended along the border, to BGB it is none of our concern. But if that number is rising it would definitely not increase the burden on our jails which are already full,”.
“Arresting a person, producing him before the court, preparing documents, following up the case and investigation require a lot of effort. Sometimes it is also easier to just push back the people apprehended across the border either with the help of BGB or without their help,”