Rescued Indian children, parents thank Bangladesh for prompt action

The five children, who were rescued after being trafficked to Bangladesh, and their parents have expressed their gratitude to Dhaka for the prompt action to ensure the safe return of the quintet after 24 days.

They visited the Bangladesh Visa Office in Agartala, 60 km from their house in Udaipura, on Tuesday to convey their gratitude.

The five children, including a toddler, from the northeastern state of Tripura returned home on Monday evening through Belonia Muharichar check post.

Kalpana Begum, the mother of the 10-month old rescued toddler, said, “We are very happy that our children have returned home safely. We are thankful to the Bangladesh government, Sheikh Hasina and the judge who ordered to return the children to their parents.”

“BGB handed over the children to the BSF at Belonia check post and the latter then brought the children back to us. We conveyed our heartiest thank to the Bangladesh government.”

The five children from Gokulpur in Gomati district of Tripura were taken across the border through Sonamura by a Bangladeshi woman, Rehana Begum, on Oct 24 last. She had taken them to attend a Muharram festival.

They have been identified as Shamim Chpudhury, Shahin Choudhury, Takkin Choudhury, Nasrin Begum and Md Nahid Hossain. They are in the age group of 10 months to 11 years.

They were detained by police in Companiganj of Noakhali district and sent to a juvenile home, where they stayed for around 22 days.

From there they were pushed back to India on Monday evening through the Belonia Muharighat check post.

“I told them my name, village, police station and gave my father’s cell number to them (police). They then called my father and that is how we were rescued,” said Md Nahid Hossain, one of the returnees.

Modern technologies like WhatsApp were used to exchange information by the security forces and authorities of both nations to facilitate the quick return of the children.

The children returned through Belonia Muharighat check post at around 7pm on Monday after Subedar Rafique Ahamed of 4th Battalion of BGB handed them over to Company Commander of 89th Battalion of BSF Kiranlal Rathor in the presence of police officials.

The children and their parents were accompanied by former Tripura minister Jahar Saha, who also thanked the officials of the visa office for taking personal initiative to bring back the children at the earliest.

First Secretary and Head of Mission of the Bangladesh Visa Office Md Moniruzzaman said, “This incident is a triumph of justice and I believe this will help in improving people-to-people contact between Bangladesh and India.”

Though Rehana’s motive behind bringing the children into Bangladesh is not yet clear, she is suspected to have been engaged in child trafficking.