Tripura man abducted in Bangladesh handed over to BSF after flag meeting

AGARTALA: A Tripura man who was allegedly abducted for ransom during his visit to Bangladesh last week was handed over by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to the Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday.

The development came a day after the BSF company commander at the Belonia Border Out Post held a flag meeting with his BGB counterpart and protested the disappearance of the Indian national.

A statement issued by BSF said BGB handed over Indian national Challa Fru Mog to BSF in the presence of immigration and police officials of India and Bangladesh at 10:30am on Friday.

A BSF spokesperson said Challa Fru Mog was a resident of Mogpara in South Tripura district. His wife Swapna Mog approached the BSF company commander yesterday and alleged that her husband had crossed over to Bangladesh with a valid visa through Belonia Land Custom Station to visit his relatives on September 13. On his way back, he was abducted by a group of Bangladeshi criminals who had demanded ₹1 lakh ransom for his release.

A company commander-level flag meeting was promptly held between BSF’s Belonia Border Out Post (BOP) on the Indian side and BGB’s Majumdarhat BOP on the Bangladesh side at 11:30am.

“During the meeting, the BSF company commander protested and conveyed serious concern about the abduction of an Indian national in Bangladesh. The BGB company commander intimated that one miscreant involved in the case has been arrested by Bangladesh police and a massive search is on for apprehending the absconding miscreants,” the BSF statement said.

The BGB commander also assured that after completion of the formalities, the Indian national, who was in custody of Bangladesh Police at Chattogram, would be handed over to the BSF.

The BSF guards the 4,096-kilometre international border between the two countries on India’s eastern flank. Tripura shares 856 km of this stretch with Bangladesh.