Bangladeshi truck driver's assistant goes missing in Agartala

A Bangladeshi truck driver’s assistant has gone missing after entering Tripura, an India Border Security Force (BSF) official said Tuesday.

The missing person has been identified as Mohammad Soel Mia, 25. He has remained untraced since Monday afternoon.

The truck in which Soel worked as the co-driver had entered Agartala, in Tripura, from the Ashuganj port across the border in Brahmanbaria to deliver rice at the Nandanagar warehouse.

“It is strange that the co-driver disappeared despite security personnel escorting the truck from the border to Nandanagar. Police are looking into the disappearance and an investigation is on,” said B S Rawat, BSF DIG.

The security forces along with state police have launched a massive search for the Bangladeshi youth.

For the first time, 5,000 tonnes of rice from the Kakinada port in India’s Andhra Pradesh had reached the Ashuganj river port in (eastern) Bangladesh via the Kolkata port in small ships on Aug 5.

From Ashuganj port, about 40 km from Agartala, Bangladeshi trucks have been carrying the rice since Aug 7 to FCI warehouses in Nandannagar, around seven kilometres inside the Indian border.

Usually, goods from Bangladeshi trucks are loaded on to Indian vehicles at the check post or along the border.
But, for the first time, Bangladeshi trucks carrying rice from the Ashuganj port in Bangladesh are being allowed entry and to go up to the FCI warehouse on the outskirts of Agartala.

Earlier, a Bangladeshi truck had met with an accident here on Aug 11.

The driver was injured and admitted to the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital, Agartala. He was released later.