Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday asked West Bengal government to take necessary steps to repatriate six Indian nationals, including a pregnant woman who were pushed into Bangladesh through Kurigram border allegedly by BSF on 26 June.
They were granted bail on Tuesday and taken into police custody after Senior Judicial Magistrate of the Third Judicial Magistrate Court Ashraful Haque granted them bail on humanitarian grounds, taking into account the imminent childbirth of the pregnant woman, Sonali Khatun, and the presence of two children in detention.
Earlier on Monday, a bench of Indian SC comprising of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to seek instruction on allowing the woman, who is in the advanced stage of pregnancy, to enter India through the Indo-Bangladesh border at Malda in West Bengal.
The group was initially released into custody of a local resident, Faruk Hossain of Nayagola village in Chapainawabganj, who stood as guarantor.
However, police took all six individuals into protective custody, citing the absence of passports.
The six Indian nationals were identified as Danesh, 28, son of Mannu Sheikh; Sonali Khatun, 26, daughter of Bhodu Sheikh; Sweety Bibi, 33, daughter of Serajul Sheikh; Kurban Sheikh, 16, and his brother Imam Dewan, 6, sons of Azizul Dewan; and Sabbir Sheikh, 8, son of Danesh.
All are from Paikar area of Birbhum district in West Bengal.
Speaking after her release, Sonali Khatun said they were kept in ‘good conditions’ inside the jail. She said she and her husband worked at a brick kiln in Delhi, where police detained them on 20 June and falsely labelled all six as undocumented Bangladeshis.
