The Border Security Force has been on high alert since Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled the country on Monday.
Even as the political turmoil and violence continues in Bangladesh, a group of nearly 600 people from the country were stopped from entering India at a border point in West Bengal by the Border Security Force, which has been on high alert since prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled the country on Monday.
Many members of the group – which tried to enter India on Wednesday, the eve of an interim government taking over in Bangladesh – pleaded with BSF personnel to be allowed in, claiming that they feared for their lives.
Officials said that the group tried to cross the border into India at the Dakshin Berubari village in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
“They appealed to us and asked to be let into the country, saying that they were afraid of being attacked and also feared for their lives. It was explained to them that it is not possible to let them enter in this fashion,” said an official.
While some people in the group dispersed, many were still at the border point late on Wednesday evening, hoping that they would eventually be allowed to cross over.
A local resident told news agency PTI that the people gathered across the barbed wire were pleading to be allowed in.
“But we are helpless. They recounted their horrific experiences,” the resident said.
Trouble had been brewing in Bangladesh since before the January 7 elections, which was won by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League in a landslide, but the electoral exercise was widely seen as being far from free and fair.