In West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, 35-year-old tea farmer Dipankar Gope was taken to Bangladesh by Bangladeshi miscreants on Saturday. The incident occurred at a tea garden in the Kukurjan area of the Rajganj block near the India-Bangladesh border.
According to media reports, his family alleges that he was abducted in retaliation after an infiltration attempt from across the border was foiled earlier this week.
They further stated that 20 Bangladeshi miscreants crossed the international border and reached the field, and forcibly took Dipankar to Panchagarh district in Bangladesh.
Dipankar’s father has also appealed to bring his son back to India.
BSF held talks with Bangladesh
After the abduction, BSF personnel reached the spot and started efforts to secure Dipankar’s release. Officials also held a flag meeting with Border Guard Bangladesh, i.e., BGB.
However, Dipankar had not been released till Saturday night. Some reports claimed that he is in BGB custody.
Meanwhile, a video of Dipankar is also going viral on social media, where he is saying that he will be released only when the Bangladeshi citizen arrested by Indian authorities is released. However, the video has not been verified.
Bangladeshi media’s claim – India took action first
‘United News of Bangladesh’ citing, Bangladeshi media presented a different claim.
According to media reports, this action was taken in response to BSF jawans capturing a 78-year-old Bangladeshi elderly person.
This photo of Dipankar is going viral on social media.
After the formation of new government in Bengal, 27 km land has been given to BSF
Since the formation of the new government in Bengal, 27 km of border land has been given to BSF so far. Fencing is to be done in 18 km and there is a plan to develop border outposts in 9 km.
The beginning has been made from border districts like Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Siliguri, Malda and Murshidabad. In 10 days, Bangladeshis attempted to stop the demarcation work at some places on the border in Murshidabad and Cooch Behar, but BSF drove them away by issuing warnings.
Bengal’s 2216 km border adjoins Bangladesh
India shares a 4,097-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh. According to the Union Home Ministry, approximately 3,240 kilometres of the border have been fenced, and approximately 850 kilometres, which includes 175 kilometres of difficult terrain, are yet to be fenced.
Suvendu Adhikari had claimed after becoming CM that out of the proposed 127-kilometre stretch, only about 8 kilometres was fenced during Mamata Banerjee’s government tenure.
In 2021, the central government increased BSF’s jurisdiction on the border in Bengal from 15 km to 50 km. This means BSF can conduct searches, arrests and seizures in areas up to 50km.
