A female Bangladeshi student at India’s National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar was deported by Assam's Cachar Police on Monday after allegedly liking and sharing an anti-India post on social media platform Facebook.
The post was made by a former Bangladeshi student of the same institute.
The student, Maisha Mahjabin, who is in her final year of BTech in electronics and communication engineering, was sent back to Bangladesh through the Karimganj border near Churaibari in Assam.
The deportation followed her application for a long leave from the institute amid ongoing developments regarding the social media post, according to Cachar Superintendent of Police (SP) Numal Mahatta.
"The matter was brought to my attention by the police’s cyber monitoring cell. I visited the institute around midnight on Saturday to investigate," Mahatta said.
He also engaged in discussions with Bangladeshi students at the institute regarding the post and related issues as part of an ongoing inquiry.
The controversial social media post was made by Sahadat Hossain Alphi, an alumnus of NIT Silchar who is currently in Bangladesh after completing his final exams.
Alphi's post has since become the subject of a police investigation.
Subhashish Choudhary, a former student at Assam University, raised the issue last Thursday and brought it to the attention of the authorities.
Following the uproar, several complaints against Mahjabin were filed in Silchar and other areas of Assam.
Professor Dilip Kumar Baidya, director of NIT Silchar, said that he is aware of the incident and is taking measures to maintain peace and order on campus to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
He also said that the NIT authorities are under pressure to withhold Alphi's graduation certificate until all facts surrounding the matter are clarified.
While the NIT Silchar authorities claim that Mahjabin expressed a desire to return home and had applied for leave on Sunday, police sources confirmed to NDTV that the deportation was carried out due to her involvement in liking the objectionable post.
Mahjabin was escorted to the India-Bangladesh international border in Karimganj on Monday morning and crossed into Bangladesh under strict security at around 11am.
Approximately 70 students from Bangladesh are currently enrolled in various disciplines at NIT Silchar.
