BSF pushes in 17 people through Panchagarh border

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained 17 individuals early today after they were pushed into Bangladesh by India's Border Security Force (BSF) through the borders in Panchagargh's Tetulia and Sadar upazilas.

In Tetulia, BGB members of the Bhajanpur Border Outpost detained seven men near border pillar 739/20-S after they had illegally crossed into Bangladesh, Lt Col Monirul Islam, commanding officer of BGB-18 battalion, told this correspondent over phone.

He added that members of India's 46 BSF Battalion had pushed them across the border early today.

Meanwhile, BGB members of Ghagra Border Outpost detained 10 others, including nine women, near border pillar 755/2-S in Sadar upazila.

Maj Kazi Asif Ahmed, deputy commanding officer of BGB-56 battalion in Nilphamari, said members of 93 BSF Battalion had pushed them into Bangladesh early in the morning.

BGB officials said during primary interrogation, the detainees claimed to be Bangladeshi nationals who had earlier gone to India illegally in search of work and had been living in different parts of the country for years.

Recently, Indian police detained them from several places, including the state of Odisha, and handed them over to the BSF, who later pushed them into Bangladesh.

Around noon, the BGB handed the detainees over to Tetulia and Sadar police stations, according to the officers-in-charge of both stations.

Police officials of both stations said they were verifying their identities before handing them over to their families.