‘Night at thana’: Was very scared, couldn’t sleep one bit, says Sunali
Times of India | 3 December 2025
Kolkata: Taken to a Bangladesh police station late on Monday "for her safety and security" after her release from prison, 28-year-old Sunali Khatun's travails with police, both in India and Bangladesh, refuse to end.
Speaking to TOI over a borrowed phone, she said: "I was terribly frightened when police took us to Chapai Nawabganj Sadar Model police station on Monday night, for which I did not have an iota of sleep."
Sunali, her husband Danish Sk, their eight-year-old son Shabir and Sweety Biwi and her two children secured bail after almost 100 days in prison. The court order on their release was shared by West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board chairperson Samirul Islam on his X handle. They are likely to be produced in court again on Wednesday.
"My parents and daughter at home were petrified when they heard that we were taken to the police station around 10 pm. I was in trauma because when we were released in the afternoon, I rang them up and said police had assured me that I could now stay safely outside jail. My family only wanted to know when I would be back in India, but I have no clue. I also want to know when I could be back," she said.
"Though we were given a cot to sleep inside the thana, I could not sleep due to the stress. Officers again questioned me on Tuesday about how we were arrested from Delhi. I told them that since we spoke Bangla, we were picked up and later pushed to Bangladesh," she said.
In Bangladesh, they have been implicated under The Control of Entry Act, 1952.
This was also pointed out in the order of the court that granted bail. The Bangladesh trial court said "they were forcibly brought to Bangladesh." It also mentioned the order of Calcutta HC and the matter being pending in the Supreme Court of India.
The court asked the Bangladesh home ministry to be involved and also asked the OC of Nawabganj Sadar Model Police Station, Chapainawabganj, to keep a detailed record of the matter of the accused persons and submit its report to the court every 10 days.
Sk Mofizul, a social worker from Birbhum who was in Bangladesh for the past few months to provide legal aid to the group, said he, too, was perplexed when the six were suddenly taken to the police station at night.
"But it was for their safety. Sweety Bibi is a bit sick. We hope to take Sunali to the doctor on Wednesday or Thursday. A senior police officer met Sunali on Tuesday and assured her not to panic," Mofizul said. The six relaxed after reaching a rented house on Tuesday, he added.
Islam, also a Trinamool MP, said the matter would be heard again in the SC on Wednesday. "We are trying to bring them back at the earliest, and our CM Mamata Banerjee is providing all support," he said.