Some 157 foreigners are awaiting repatriation despite the completion of their sentences for various crimes in prisons across Bangladesh, according to a report submitted to the High Court.
Of them, 150 are citizens of India, five are from Myanmar, and one each from Pakistan and Nepal. Among the 157 prisoners, there are 19 women.
Deputy Attorney General Amit Dasgupta confirmed this information on Sunday.
He said that the report will be presented before the court on the next scheduled date.
These foreign nationals were usually imprisoned for illegal entry under the Control of Entry Act, 1952, The Passport (Offences) Act, 1952, and the Narcotics Control Act.
Earlier, Govinda Oriya, 26, a resident of Kamalpur of Tripura state, India, was arrested by the members of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) on January 19, 2022, for illegal entry through Srimangal of Moulvibazar.
On the same day, the arrested Govinda was handed over to the Srimangal police station
BGB registered a case in this connection.
The investigation officer issued the charge sheet on February 4 of the same year.
He was charged under Section 242 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 and Section 4 of the Control of Entry Act, 1952.
At the end of the trial, a Moulvibazar court sentenced him to two months and 10 days of rigorous imprisonment as there were no previous trespassing charges.
According to the judgment, Govinda has served four days more than the term of the sentence. So the court directed the superintendent of Moulvibazar District Jail to arrange his repatriation.
However, even after two years passed after that order, Govinda was not repatriated.
A private television channel recently aired a report on this Indian prisoner.
Supreme Court lawyer Bibhuti Tarafder filed a writ in the High Court on January 11 adding that report.
The writ challenged the inaction of those concerned in the release and repatriation process of jailed prisoner Govinda.
On January 15, after the preliminary hearing in this case, the High Court gave the order along with the rule.
Govinda was ordered to be released from prison in an interim order.
The court also asked to provide the list of foreign nationals who have been imprisoned without making arrangements for repatriation even after serving their sentence.
With this instruction to the Inspector General of Prisons, the date of the next order has been fixed on March 10.
The Department of Prisons then sent the report to the Attorney General's Office for submission in the court.
State counsels said that as their sentence has expired, these people have to be repatriated to their country in a due process by contacting the concerned country as they are citizens of other countries.
“It is also not possible to release them until that process is over,” they said.