Bangladesh said on Thursday it had prevented 10 attempts over the previous 24 hours by Indian authorities to send people across the border into Bangladeshi territory, according to statements from border officials.
New Delhi is yet to respond to the allegations.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said it had stepped up intelligence gathering and patrols along the frontier to stop what it described as illegal cross-border “push-ins”. The force said no individuals would be allowed to enter Bangladesh unlawfully and warned that any actions violating border management agreements and bilateral understandings would be firmly opposed.
The issue comes amid heightened scrutiny of Bengali-speaking migrants in parts of India following the April 2025 militant attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities in several Indian states have detained Bengali-speaking residents, many of them Muslims, and asked them to provide proof of Indian citizenship.
Some individuals have subsequently been sent into Bangladesh after allegedly failing to establish their nationality. In several instances, however, people later returned to India after authorities found they were Indian citizens.
Bangladesh has repeatedly urged India to return any identified Bangladeshi nationals through established legal and diplomatic procedures rather than sending them across the border informally.
Last month, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it had asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of 2,862 suspected Bangladeshi nationals believed to be residing illegally in India. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi expected Dhaka to accelerate the verification process to facilitate their repatriation.
The BGB said one of the latest incidents occurred in the southwestern district of Jhenaidah, where personnel from India’s Border Security Force allegedly opened a border gate and attempted to move about 30 to 35 people towards Bangladesh in a prison vehicle. Bangladeshi border guards said they intervened and the vehicle withdrew.
The BGB also reported similar alleged incidents in the districts of Jashore, Joypurhat and Panchagarh, among other locations.
Officials in Dhaka said the issue of alleged border push-ins is expected to be discussed during director-general-level talks between the border forces of the two countries scheduled to take place in New Delhi from June 8 to June 11.
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