21 pushed in thru Sherpur

Twenty-one people were pushed into Bangladesh through Sherpur's Nakugaon border in Nalitabari upazila early yesterday.

Lt Col Mahadi Hassan, commanding officer of Border Guard Bangladesh BGB 39 Battalion in Mymensingh, said believed to be Rohingyas, the five men, five women, and 11 children were pushed into Bangladesh around 1:15am through the Hatipagar area.

Quoting them, he said the families had initially taken refuge in the Ukhiya Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar during the 2017 Rohingya influx but later crossed into India illegally.

They were working as labourers in hotels and houses the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. A month ago, they were arrested as illegal immigrants in a raid conducted by the Indian police.

Later they were handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF), who pushed them across the border into Bangladesh, the BGB officer said.

A BGB patrol team detained them and sheltered them at a local government primary school.

"Their identities are being verified," he said, adding that further legal steps will follow.