STRANDED IN INDIA

23 fishers return via Benapole

OUR CORRESPONDENT, Benapole

Twenty-three Bangladeshi fishermen, who were stranded at India’s West Bengal for nearly four months, were allowed to enter the country through the Benapole border in Jashore on Friday night.

The Indian police handed them over to Benapole Immigration Police through “special travel permit”.

Confirming the development, Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of Benapole Check-post Immigration Police, told our local correspondent that on August 18 this year, 90 Bangladeshi fishermen were caught in a sea storm while fishing in the Bay of Bengal. Indian Coast Guard police later rescued them from the sea.

The fishermen were under custody of Buddha Pur flood centre in Kakdwip in India.

After confirming the citizenship of 23 rescued fishermen, the deputy high commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata took the initiative to bring them back to the country, said the OC. Among the 23 fishermen, one is from Bagerhat, one from Chandpur and 21 from Bhola.

Muhit Hossain, senior programme officer of Jashore Justice and Care, said, “The returning fishermen will be handed over to their families.”