Rescue, border security on top of govt mind

Kolkata/Jalpaiguri: The Centre and the state are in touch and working on two fronts — to safely bring back Indian citizens stuck in Bangladesh and monitor the border to prevent any spillover of trouble into India.Over 4,000 Indians, many of them from Bengal, are holed up in Dhaka and other towns in Bangladesh, unable to step out as violence rages on the streets. Curfew has been imposed in multiple cities to quell violence. Train services between the two countries have been suspended. Flights and buses are also irregular, making evacuation extremely challenging. The Indian high commission in Dhaka has asked Indians to stay indoors.

Nabanna has asked the state’s resident commissioner in Delhi to be in constant touch with the ministry of external affairs and coordinate with officials to evacuate students from Bengal and rest of India who are in Bangladesh. On Friday, 33 medicos had also crossed into India through Changrabandha in Cooch Behar and on Saturday, 13 more medical students returned via Fulbari of Jalpaiguri. Most of them are students of Rangpur and Mymensingh medical colleges.Till now, 778 students have returned through various land ports and another 200 have taken flights out of Dhaka and Chittagong. The MEA post further said Indian missions are in touch with 4,000 students studying in different universities in Bangladesh to provide assistance. Former RBU VC and linguist Pabitra Sarkar, who had gone to Dhaka to attend a seminar on July 18, is among those stranded in the country. Sources said efforts were on to arrange for Sarkar’s safe return on Monday. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) posted in ‘X’ handle that they are trying to assist the Indians to return home through the MEA missions in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna. “MEA is also coordinating with civil aviation, immigration, land ports and BSF to ensure a smooth passage for our citizens,” the post said.Movement of goods has also been affected with nearly 750 trucks stuck at various land ports, including Petrapole and Changrabandha.Following the jail break at Narsingdi, Union home ministry has called for increased vigil along border as trouble mongers might try to take shelter in India. Bengal administration has asked SPs in six north Bengal districts to be on high alert and take note of any suspicious movement in border districts. Sources said there were intelligence inputs that some fundamentalist terror groups and members of opposition parties in Bangladesh would try to take shelter in India to escape a crackdown there. (With inputs from Dwaipayan Ghosh)
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