How a video shot by this trader might bring Malda youth home
Times of India | 27 July 2025
12 Malda: Paban Kumar Das was on his usual visit to Bangladesh's Ghumra on Wednesday when he came across a distraught youth at a corner of the street, across the Ghojadanga border outpost. The youth looked pale and was sobbing when Das approached him. Little did the import-export trader know that he was about to play the role of an angel in 22-year-old Sk Amir's life.
According to Amir, and his family, he was arrested by Rajasthan Police as a suspected Bangladeshi and jailed for two months before being pushed to Bangladesh. The Malda resident, who had gone to Rajasthan for work, had an Aadhaar, but no EPIC. Cops didn't accept his ID, his cell phone was allegedly seized. For a week, Amir has been roaming the streets in Bangladesh, without food and not a paisa in his pocket. Das fed him, found him shelter, and it was a video shot by him that went viral, bringing Amir's plight to light. Now, Kaliachak cops and the Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board have taken up Amir's issue, working out the legalities to ensure his return home.
Speaking to TOI over phone, Das was clearly frustrated over Amir's condition. "How long will it take(to get him back to Malda)? Don't people have any compassion," asked the North Dinajpur trader, who regularly crosses the border to visit Bangladesh import centres like Hili, Sona Masjid and Ghumra. Das almost choked up as he recalled Amir telling him that he had gone without a morsel of rice for two days.
"I sent the video to some of my friends in Kaliachak to inquire about Amir. They somehow contacted his family," Das said. He has arranged for Amir's stay with a Bangladesh-based business associate but is afraid that little can be done if Bangladesh authorities imprison Amir — an illegal immigrant in the neighbouring country.
For Amir's father Jiyem Sk, Das is a godsend. "Had he not been there I would not have received any information about my son. This stranger fed Amir, gave him shelter. May Allah bless him.
"Das, however, doesn't want to take any credit. "What I did was natural and human. Please help Amir return home, that would be the real help.