123 Gede (Nadia)/Kolkata: Belgharia resident Sayan Ghosh, a 22-year-old from Deshapriyanagar's ‘Sonar Bangla' under Kamarhati Municipality, returned home on Saturday evening visibly shaken after a harrowing ordeal in Bangladesh. Ghosh was stabbed multiple times by a group of Bangladeshi youths at Jurain, a Dhaka neighbourhood, during his week-long trip to Bangladesh. Worse still, he waited for hours to get treated and lodge a complaint.
After returning home, Sayan lodged a complaint at Belgharia PS and plans to submit a detailed report to the Bangladesh High Commission in Kolkata on Monday. He also reported the incident to Customs officials at the Gede border.
He travelled to Bangladesh on Nov 23 to visit a friend in Jurain Baganbari. "I was thrilled about this much-anticipated trip. But what I encountered was beyond my worst nightmares," he said. The area was tense due to violent protests following the arrest of an Iskcon monk, forcing him and his friend to remain indoors. Ghosh was scheduled to return to Kolkata on Nov 27. "My friend suggested a day out in Dhaka on the morning of Nov 26. We left around 8.30 am," he recounted.
As they stepped out of his friend's house, a group of Bangladeshi youths confronted him. "They surrounded me and asked, ‘What is your religion?' When I said I was an Indian Hindu, they dragged me to a corner, snatched my money, phone and belongings. When I resisted, they hit me on the head with a stone. They then stabbed me on the face and forehead, leaving me bleeding profusely," Sayan added.
The attackers allegedly shouted anti-Hindu slurs, saying, "Indian Hindu. Beat him!" Despite his cries for help, no one intervened except his friend, whose family continues to face threats. "Even cops refused to help and instead harassed me during interrogation," he alleged. He added that police and locals threatened his friend and his family, warning them against filing a complaint.
Ghosh managed to cross the Indo-Bangladesh border at Gede to return on Saturday.