HC seeks govt reply on Bangladeshis languishing in WB jails

DHAKA: Bangladesh High Court has sought a reply from government about the steps it took to repatriate some 500 Bangladeshis languishing in jails in West Bengal despite expiry of their terms.

"The court has asked the government to submit the report in next two months describing the steps it took for the return of the Bangladeshis who are in West Bengal jail even after completing their terms," a court official said.

The order was issued to the foreign secretary, the director general of Foreign Ministry's South Asia division, the joint secretary (political) of Home Ministry and the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata, he said.

The court order came a week after the Prothom Alo newspaper carried a report saying over 2,500 Bangladeshis have been detained in different jails of West Bengal while over 500 among them have already served out their punishment three or four years ago.

The report prompted Supreme Court lawyer Shahidul Islam to file a petition seeking the court directives on the issue. According to him, those people could not return home due to diplomatic complexity between the two countries.

During Prime Minister Sheikh Haskin's New Delhi visit in last January, Bangladesh and India had signed a deal agreeing to exchange of sentenced people languishing in each other's jails to spend rest of their jail terms in prisons of their own country if they want to be expatriated or opted for the serving jails at home.