A 35-year-old tea farmer from West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district was allegedly kidnapped by a bunch of Bangladeshi males from a tea backyard close to the India-Bangladesh border on Saturday.
The farmer, recognized as Dipankar Gope, lives in Tasar Para village within the Chaulhati border space. His household believes he was taken away in an act of revenge after an earlier try to cross the border illegally was stopped.
In keeping with native sources, on August 6, a Bangladeshi man allegedly tried to enter India by reducing the barbed wire fence alongside the Chaulhati border.
Villagers and Border Safety Drive (BSF) personnel caught him and handed him over to the police. Locals suspect that the person was linked to a cross-border smuggling community.
Two days later, on Saturday morning, Gope went to his six-bigha tea backyard close to the border to spray pesticides. The backyard is positioned past the barbed wire fence.
Gope was working alone when round 20 Bangladeshi males allegedly crossed the border and surrounded him. He reportedly tried to flee however was overpowered.
The group then allegedly took Gope throughout the worldwide border into Bangladesh’s Panchagarh district.
BSF ATTEMPTS NEGOTIATION BUT IN VAIN
The incident sparked panic throughout close by border villages, with residents expressing issues over the protection of people that commonly work in fields and tea gardens positioned near the worldwide boundary.
Following the alleged abduction, BSF personnel rushed to the spot and initiated efforts to safe Gope’s launch. Officers additionally held a flag assembly with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Nonetheless, the farmer had not been launched until Saturday evening and was reportedly in BGB custody.
In the meantime, a video purportedly displaying Gope has surfaced on social media, through which he allegedly says he would solely be launched if the Bangladeshi nationwide arrested by Indian authorities is freed.
The authenticity of the video has not been independently verified.
Gope’s father appealed for his son’s secure return, alleging that the kidnapping was an act of revenge linked to the latest arrest on the border.
The BSF stays in fixed contact with Bangladeshi authorities to safe the farmer’s secure launch, whereas investigations are underway to find out the circumstances behind the incident and look at the doable involvement of organised cross-border smuggling teams.
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With inputs from Rajen Pradhan
