The South Dinajpur district administration, in association with the Child Welfare Committee and the district police, repatriated two Bangladeshi teenagers, Md Roni, 10 and Dilawar Hussein, 14, to their homeland in Bangladesh through the Hili international immigration check post this morning. The teenagers were arrested from the Balurghat railway station.
Md Roni and his four friends had crossed the border through Hili and were supposed to visit Ajmer Sharif Dargah in India when they were arrested. Later, the court ordered them in juvenile confinement at the Suvhayan home.
Family members of both the boys were present on the border with officials from both India and Bangladesh on Tuesday. “The district administration successfully repatriated two Bangladeshi teenagers on Tuesday. The process from the Indian side was initiated by the district administration, along with the Child Welfare Committee, local police officials and officer-in-charge of the Hili immigration check post, Shipra Roy, District Investigative Officer Bikash Mandal and Child Welfare Committee member Suraj Das, while Md Aftab Hussain from Bangladesh was present to repatriate the boys,” sources said.
“The home had arranged for schooling facility for Md Roni in a local primary school and he actively participated in school events,” the sources added. Md Roni and Dilawar were both elated to return to their country.
“I will miss my friends and teachers in Balurghat. We are also waiting to visit our village in Bangladesh,” said Md Roni.A member of the Child Welfare Committee, Suraj Das, said there are 26 more Bangladeshi boys confined at the Suvhayan home in Balurghat.
“The process of repatriation is going on and they will be soon sent back to their homeland,” he said. Paperwork for the repatriation of the 26 boys is underway, it is learnt.