225 more students return home from stir-hit B’desh
Times of India | 23 July 2024
Kolkata: The Border Security Force (BSF) assisted 225 more Indian and Nepalese students, studying in Bangladesh, to return home after they crossed the Indo-Bangla border on Monday. In the past four days, 1,419 students had crossed the border.
On Monday, 134 Indian and 29 Nepalese students crossed the border at Petrapole, while another 42 Indians and 6 Nepalese crossed the border at Gede.There were no fresh crossovers along the border at Mahadipur and Ghojadanga.
“On reaching the border, the South Bengal Frontier of BSF is conducting medical check-ups to ensure the health and well-being of the students. Understanding the impact of the turmoil on their mental state, we have also arranged counselling sessions with doctors to help them deal with anxiety and fear,” said AK Arya, DIG and BSF South Bengal Frontier's spokesperson.
The officer said all of them were provided with fresh meals and refreshments at the border before being transported to their respective destinations in BSF vehicles.
“Border Guard Bangladesh safely escorted the students to the border after which the BSF took over ,” he said.
So far, more than 4,500 Indians have returned home from Bangladesh as the neighbouring country continues to reel under violent clashes that have killed over 100 people.
Meanwhile, cross-border trade through land ports remained suspended for the second day in a row on Monday, as violence continued to disrupt normal operations.
According to officials, the movement of goods trucks has been halted since Sunday, with the Bangladeshi side of the Petrapole land port remaining closed due to a government-declared holiday and only emergency services functioning. At present, about 800 trucks carrying various goods are stuck in parking lots, officials said.