Bangladeshi youth turns himself in to India police

A Bangladeshi youth, who had crossed over into India in the hope of getting a good job there but could not manage one in a month, has surrendered to the West Bengal police.

Dipankar Mistry from Dakop in Khulna was sent to prison on remand for 14 days.

He was arrested by Indian police and taken to Bashirhat subdivisional magistrate's court in North 24 Parganas. The court sent him to Bashirhat subdivisional prison.

North 24 Parganas police superintendent Bhaskar Mukherjee said the Bangladeshi youth surrendered to Basirhat Police Station on Friday night. A case was filed against him under the foreigners' act.

Dipankar Mistry entered the station and asked the duty officer Shampa Dey to arrest him.

He told the officer, “I came to your country in search of work. But like my country I did not get any job here. I cannot return home. So arrest me.”

Bashirhat Officer-in-Charge Debashish Chakraborty described the incident to journalists.

Before facing the court yesterday, Dipankar told journalists that he had left home with Tk 2,500 in Bangladeshi currency. Middlemen at Swarupnagar border took Tk 2,100 from him as "fees" for crossing over to India. He exchanged the remaining Tk 400 for Indian Rupees 350.

Dipankar maintained bare subsistence with Rs 350 for the last one month and looked for work. Finally he was left with no money to pay the middlemen at the border to return to Bangladesh.

Dipankar said he was afraid of arrest and torture by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India's Border Security Force (BSF).