After serving time in an India for two and a half years, four Bangladeshi underage boys have finally returned home.
The Indian Petrapole Immigration Police handed over the boys – Mintu Rahman, 14, from Jhikargachha upazila, and Sohel Rana, 17, from Bhandarkhola upazila of Jessore, Raihan Gazi, 17, from Satkhira Sadar upazila, and Sheikh Rabbi, 11, from Morganj upazila of Bagerhat – to Bangladesh Immigration Police at Benapole checkpoint Monday evening.
Benapole checkpoint Duty Officer Khairul Islam confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune.
Officials of Bangladesh Border Guard and immigration police stationed at the Benapole checkpoint were present during the small ceremony, he added.
Sources in the Immigration Police said the boys in question crossed over to India two and a half years ago without passport and were caught by Indian police in Howrah, a city in the Indian state of West Bengal.
A local court sentenced 11-year-old Rabbi to four years in jail and the other three to two and a half years in jail for illegally trespassing into the country.
However, a local NGO named Itanda Community Development Society got the underage boys released and took them into their custody.
After the NGO took the boys into their custody, the Indian government issued the boys special travel permits that enabled them to finally return to Bangladesh.
After they returned to the country, the Immigration Police handed them over to Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA).
The association will later hand the boys over to their families, said BNWLA Coordinator Sakibur Rahman.
Monday, March 17, 2025
