14 Bangladeshi nationals lodged in Indian jail awaiting repatriation

Fourteen Bangladesh nationals lodged in Tezpur jail in India’s Assam are yet to be repatriated to their homeland. The Bangladesh assistant high commissioner in Guwahati has completed all the required formalities, but the Assam government is yet to make a move. Following the setting up of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Guwahati, Assistant High Commissioner Kazi Muntasir Murshed took initiative in repatriating the Bangladeshi nationals whose duration of imprisonment has expired. Taking recourse to the Government of India’s Consular Access, Murshed inspected the jails in Tezpur, Goalpara, Kokrajhar and Silchar. He talked to the inmates suspected of being Bangladeshi nationals. “Once a Bangladeshi citizen approached me for the release of his daughter lodged in an Assam jail. On this context, I paid a visit to different jails in Assam and talked to the inmates suspected to have come from Bangladesh. There are 51 Bangladeshis in Goalpara jail, 34 in Silchar jail, 23 in Tezpur jail and three in Kokrajhar jail. All of them have completed their imprisonment terms,” said the Bangladesh assistant high commissioner in Guwahati. However in a bid to verify the authenticity of their citizenship credentials, the Bangladesh assistant high commissioner began a verification process. “The Government of Bangladesh has completed the verification process of 14 inmates lodged in Tezpur jail out of the overall 23. Verification of the remaining ones in Tezpur and other jails will take some more time,” the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner Murshed in Guwahati told this correspondent. “We’ve completed all the formalities for the repatriation of 14 Bangladeshi citizens. Their names have been forwarded to the Assam government as well. And now, the state government should act upon it. Hope they will do soon,” added Murshed.