Bangladeshis kidnap two Indian farmers to get their man freed from BSF

Two Indian farmers from West Bengal's Nadia district were kidnapped and taken into Bangladesh by a group of Bangladeshi farmers on Tuesday who were seeking the release of a farmer allegedly detained by the Border Security Force (BSF), the Dhaka-based newspaper Prothom Alo reported.

This comes after a 35-year-old tea farmer from West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district was abducted by a group of Bangladeshi men from a tea garden near the India-Bangladesh border on Saturday.

Prothom Alo identified the abducted Indian farmers as Sachin Karmakar and Narayan Deb.

A separate report in the Dhaka-based newspaper, The Daily Star, reported the farmers' names as being Sachin Das and Ratan Biswas. Both of the individuals were reported to have been handed back to the BSF as of the time of filing this report on Tuesday evening.

BSF DETAINED A BANGLADESHI FARMER: REPORT

According to reports by Prothom Alo, as well as The Daily Star, the whole thing started when 70-year-old Abdul Mannan, resident of Ichakali village, was allegedly detained by BSF personnel on Tuesday morning while he was working near the Ichakhali border in Sadar upazila.

For context, the Ichakhali Border is a section of the India-Bangladesh international boundary in Bangladesh's western Meherpur Sadar Upazila, adjoining West Bengal's Nadia district. The area is predominantly agricultural, with farmers cultivating tracts of land extending right up to the international border.

According to the Prothom Alo report, the Bangladeshi farmer, Abdul Mannan, had been cultivating green chillies and other crops on one and a half bighas of land on the Ichakhali border for some time now. However, on Tuesday morning, when he went to spray pesticides on his land, he was detained by BSF personnel.

The Daily Star reported that the detention took place near Border Pillar No 124/4-S.

BANGALDESHI VILLAGERS KIDNAPPED TWO INDIANS, HANDED THEM TO THE BGB

Following the detention of Abdul Manna, the relatives of the Bangladeshi farmer crossed the international border and detained two Indian nationals near Border Pillar No 123/3-S before handing them over to a nearby Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) camp, reported Prothom Alo.

Ibrahim Khalilullah, Abdul Mannan's grandson, told Prothom Alo that they resorted to such an action after repeated requests to the BSF failed to secure Mannan's release.

"After we learnt that the BSF had detained my grandfather, we requested them to release him. But they did not let him go. As a result, people in the area became angry and dragged two Indian farmers into Bangladesh. One of them is Sachin Karmakar and the other is Narayan Deb," Ibrahim told Prothom Alo.

The Daily Star, however, identified the abducted individuals as Sachin Das and Ratan Biswas.

RELEASE OF DETAINED INDIVIDUALS SECURED AFTER BSF-BGB FLAG MEETING

Following the two detentions, the BGB and BSF held a flag meeting at the Ichakhali border on Tuesday afternoon, after which all three alleged detainees were handed over to the border forces of their respective countries.

According to The Daily Star, the meeting took place at the zero line between 2 pm and 3 pm on Tuesday.

BGB Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Nazmul Hasan told the media that Abdul Mannan was returned to Bangladesh, while the two Indian nationals detained by Bangladeshi villagers were also handed over to the BSF.

This was, however, by no means the first instance of Indian citizens being allegedly abducted or detained at or near the international border following an alleged detention of Bangladeshi nationals by the BSF.

On Saturday, a 35-year-old tea farmer from West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, identified as Dipankar Gope, was abducted by around 20 Bangladeshi men from his tea garden near the India-Bangladesh border. According to reports, Gope was working in his six-bigha garden when the group allegedly crossed into India, surrounded him and dragged him into Bangladesh's northern Panchagarh district before handing him over to the BGB.

The abduction was reportedly linked to the detention of a Bangladeshi man on August 6, after villagers and BSF personnel allegedly caught him attempting to enter India by cutting through the border fence. The BSF subsequently held a flag meeting with the BGB to seek Gope's release. The Daily Star reported on Sunday that Gope had since been handed over to Panchagarh Police in Bangladesh and had not been returned to India.

A purported video of Gope later surfaced on social media, allegedly showing him saying that he "would be released only if the Bangladeshi national detained by Indian authorities was freed".

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