5 Bangladeshi nationals repatriated from Tripura after treatment

AGARTALA: Five Bangladeshi nationals, including three women, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally-challenged condition four to seven years ago, were reunited with their families on Friday after many years of medical treatment in Tripura.

The officials of the Assistant High Commission (AHC) of Bangladesh in Agartala, who coordinated the repatriation of the five Bangladeshis through the Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) check-post, said that after completing the legal and diplomatic formalities, they have been handed over to their families through the Akhaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rumana Akhtar.

The five Bangladeshi nationals are - Santosh Deb of Chittagong, Bijoy Chunu of Narayanganj, Moina Begum of Manikganj, Rogina Begum of Patuakhali and Kulsum Begum of Comilla.

An official of the Bangladesh AHC said that there are some other mentally-challenged nationals of their country being treated in the Modern Psychiatry Hospital in Tripura. "After we get the 'Fit for Discharge' certificate from the hospital, we would take the next course of action, including collection of their whereabouts and their actual identity," the official said, while refusing to be named.

Indian and Bangladeshi officials, including Border Security Force and Border Guards Bangladesh officials and Rumana Akhter, were present at the emotionally-charged event.

A Tripura Government official said that the five Bangladesh nationals were medically treated in the Modern Psychiatry Hospital for four to seven years and after they were found mentally stable, their deportation process started through the Indian and Bangladesh Governments.

These foreign nationals were detained in Tripura border in 2015Bangladeshi nationals, , Tripura.,Assistant High Commission and 2018 after they inadvertently crossed into India.

Around 10 more Bangladeshi psychologically-challenged patients are now being treated in the Modern Psychiatry Hospital. In the past two years, 11 Bangladeshi citizens, including women, who had accidentally crossed the international border into India in a mentally-sick condition, were handed over their families after a lengthy legal and diplomatic process.

Several Bangladeshi nationals, including women and children, are often apprehended by the Border Security Force and other security forces when they inadvertently cross the international border. Tripura, which is surrounded by Bangladesh on almost all four sides, shares an 856 km international border with the neighbouring country. (IANS)

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