West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has stated that fishermen from West Bengal were subjected to atrocities while imprisoned by the Bangladesh Navy in Bangladesh.

During her visit to the Gangasagar Mela, she expressed her discontent at the helipad ground regarding the incident. The Sunderbans affairs department had organised a programme on the occasion, “Fishermen’s return to their homeland and reunion with their families,” where she mentioned that all officials in West Bengal had been trying for several months to rescue these fishermen. After the exchange at the maritime boundary between the two countries on Sunday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee reunited the fishermen with their families in Gangasagar on Monday. “This is a very unfortunate incident. One of the rescued fishermen even jumped into the water out of fear of being caught. I have handed over Rs 2 lakh to his wife,” the chief minister said. She added that many of the fishermen were beaten there from their waist to leg and instructed the chief secretary to arrange for their treatment. After nearly two-and-a-half months, 95 Indian fishermen, who were kept imprisoned in Bangladesh finally set foot on Indian soil. Around noon on Monday, they were brought to Gangasagar by trawlers. The minister of sundarbans development, Bankim Hazra, and district administrative officials were present. The chief minister provided the fishermen with white pajamas, shawls, and Rs 10,000 as gifts.

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Chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at Gangasagar by chopper on Monday to inspect preparations for the fair and met the rescued fishermen. She also interacted with their families. The fishermen were allowed to return to their homes later day. On Sunday, India and Bangladesh exchanged detainees at the international maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. The process was carried out in the presence of coast guard and administrative officials from both countries. Bangladesh handed over 95 Indian fishermen, while India returned 90 Bangladeshi fishermen. Both groups had been accused of crossing international maritime boundaries. Following the arrests, both countries took steps for repatriation. After learning about the arrest of fishermen from Kakdwip and Namkhana in Bangladesh, the chief minister actively worked to bring them back to India.

The state government also drew the attention of the central government to the issue. From the chief minister’s office, Kakdwip MLA Monturam Pakhira was asked to check on the well-being of the fishermen’s families. Recently, Bangladesh’s ministry of home affairs, through deputy secretary Lutfaun Nahar, issued a notice stating that the interim government had decided to withdraw the cases against these 95 fishermen. It was also decided to return six seized trawlers to India. Similarly, India’s ministry of home affairs decided to release 90 Bangladeshi fishermen. The rescued fishermen, who were aboard trawlers named Jhor 3, Abhijit, Ma Basanti, Narayan 2, and Jai Jagannath, reported that they were subjected to severe physical abuse.