BGB detains Indian couple in Moulvibazar
Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained an Indian couple in the early hours of Friday after they were allegedly found crossing into Bangladesh illegally through the Borlekha border in Moulvibazar district.
The detainees have been identified as Kamrul Ahmed, 32, and his wife Husna Begum Laskar, 24, residents of Lala village in the Hailakandi district of India’s Assam state.
According to Borlekha Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Moniruzzaman Khan, the couple was apprehended from the Gandhai area of Dakshin Shahbazpur union in Borlekha upazila at around 6:30am. Indian identity cards and mobile phones were recovered from them at the time of detention.
“During initial questioning, the couple admitted to crossing the border illegally and entering Bangladesh,” said the OC.
The BGB subsequently handed the detainees over to police on Friday afternoon. “We are verifying their identities and processing the matter. A case is being filed by the BGB, and necessary legal action will be taken accordingly,” said OC Moniruzzaman.
BGB-52 Beanibazar Battalion Commander Lt Col Md Ataur Rahman confirmed that preliminary investigation established the two as Indian nationals who were apprehended while attempting to enter Bangladesh, adding that case proceedings were underway.
Political reaction
The incident comes amid heightened tensions over alleged “push-in” operations along the Bangladesh-India border. Islamist political party Khilafat Majlis has alleged that attempts are being made to push Bengali-speaking Muslims from Assam and West Bengal into Bangladesh through the border, condemning what it described as hegemonic conduct and human rights violations by India.
In a press release issued Thursday and signed by the party’s central publicity and information secretary Abdul Hafiz Khosru, Khilafat Majlis also alleged that the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has repeatedly violated international law and human rights by shooting and killing Bangladeshi nationals at the border. The party said that despite three Bangladeshi citizens being killed at the Brahmanbaria and Lalmonirhat borders within the past week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to summon the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka to account for the deaths, and called on the government to take immediate, effective measures.
The party also raised concerns about law and order, irregular cattle market leasing practices ahead of Eid-ul-Adha, and called for urgent construction and repair of embankments and waterways in flood-prone areas including Feni, Sylhet, and Rangpur.
The BGB detention in Moulvibazar adds a new dimension to the ongoing cross-border movement debate, though authorities say legal process will determine the circumstances surrounding the couple’s entry into Bangladeshi territory.
