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Bangladesh border officials confirmed detaining the group in the no-man’s land along the border

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Fourteen members of a Bengali Muslim family from Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district were allegedly pushed into Bangladesh by the Border Security Force (BSF) in December, a relative said, reported Scroll.in

The family, which includes men, women, and children, has lived in Odisha for more than 70 years, said Saiful Ali Khan, a relative. “The eldest among them is a 90-year-old woman,” he added.

Documents in the family’s possession show their native village is in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.

Khan said the group was first detained in Jagatsinghpur two months ago on suspicion of being Bangladeshi citizens. Among them was Khan’s 36-year-old niece, Sabera Bibi.

“They were forced into Bangladesh on December 26,” Khan told Scroll.in. “They walked about four kilometres and were later detained by Bangladeshi police and the Border Guard Bangladesh at Darshana bus stand in Chuadanga district.”

Mehdi Hasan, officer in charge of Darshana police station, confirmed the group was handed over to Bangladeshi authorities and later returned to India. “They had come from Odisha and were later sent to India,” Hasan said.

Khan said the family was shuttled between India and Bangladesh four times, with the BSF pushing them into Bangladesh three times and Bangladeshi authorities returning them once. Nine family members are reportedly still in hiding in Bangladesh, while the whereabouts of five remain unknown.

In a video recorded while the family was in Bangladeshi custody, one member said BSF officials had threatened to open fire if they tried to return to India.

Sabera Bibi’s husband, Sheikh Ukil, said in Hindi: “We were first brought to Kolkata from Odisha and then to the border where we were made to roam for three days before being pushed into Bangladesh… The BSF told us if you come back, they will open fire. Where will we go?”

Ankit Kumar Verma, superintendent of police in Jagatsinghpur, told Scroll.in that a statewide drive against “Bangladeshi infiltrators” is underway but declined to provide details. “I can’t verify like this… These are all confidential and secret things,” he said.

The family expelled from Odisha is originally from South 24 Parganas district, Khan said. Members include 90-year-old Guljan Bibi, her daughter and son-in-law, four grandsons, three granddaughters-in-law, and four great-grandchildren.

Khan said the family was detained for over a month despite showing Odisha police their voter and Aadhaar cards. On December 17, the pradhan of West Bengal’s Moushuni gram panchayat issued a certificate confirming that Sheikh Hosen, Bibi’s husband, was a permanent resident of Baliara village in South 24 Parganas.

Khan said he learned of their plight on January 7 when one family member contacted him from Bangladesh.