Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel allegedly entered Bangladesh through the Dharamjoyn BOP border in Birol upazila of Dinajpur and took away two Bangladeshi farmers.
The incident occurred on Friday around 12:30pm, confirmed Noor Islam, chairman of No 8 Dharampur union parishad.
The two farmers, Masud and Enamul, are residents of the border-adjacent Karulia Para, he added.
In protest, local villagers detained two Indian nationals while they were harvesting paddy inside Bangladesh. The detained Indians have been identified as Abinash Tudu and Philip Soren, residents of Anantapur, in Gangarampur police station area of Dakshin Dinajpur district in West Bengal, confirmed Noor Islam.
According to sources, the two are currently being held at the Enayetpur BGB camp. Villagers from Karulia Para have joined forces with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and are now stationed along the border.
Rezaul Karim, commander of Dharamjoyn BOP under BGB’s 42 Battalion, said they were in talks with the BSF through a flag meeting to arrange the return of the two detained Bangladeshis and hand over the two Indian nationals.
Locals informed that this is not the first such incident in the area. In the past, similar exchanges have occurred where Bangladeshi farmers were detained by BSF, prompting locals to detain Indian nationals.
