India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday handed over to the Bangladesh authorities the bodies of two minor siblings, who went missing on Friday in the border area of Kurigram’s Phulbari upazila.
The deceased were identified as Parveen Khatun, 8, and Shakibul Hasan, 4. They were the children of Rahim Uddin of Poschim Shukati village in Nageshwari upazila.
The bodies were handed over around 8pm on Tuesday after Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) held a flag meeting with their Indian counterparts at Dharmapur border in Kashipur union.
On Friday, the two siblings went missing while crossing the Nilkumor river, after the BSF chased them as they were in a group trying to cross the border at Phulbari in Kurigram to sneak into Bangladesh illegally.
On Saturday morning, the BSF recovered the bodies and kept them in a morgue.
Rahim Uddin, the father of the duo, said that his two children were born and brought up in India. “I wanted to bring them, along with their mother, to Bangladesh and paid a broker Tk 30,000,” Rahim said.
According to the arrangement, Rahim’s wife and their two children were taken to a safe house on the border on Friday night. There were 20-25 more people, including women and children.
He further said that they tried to cross the border but the BSF men chased them. At one stage, the two minors went missing due to the strong current in the river. However, his wife managed to swim ashore, he said.
Source: United News of Bangladesh