Abducted Indian farmer returns home safely

Cooch Behar: Panic gripped the border villages of Sitalkuchi block on Monday after Bangladeshi miscreants allegedly abducted an Indian farmer from the international border area. The farmer, Krishnakant Barman, was later released following a flag meeting between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and safely returned to his family the same night.

According to police sources, Krishnakant Barman, a resident of Mira Para under Golna Hoti Gram Panchayat, was harvesting paddy on his farmland situated across the International border on the Indian stretch on Monday afternoon when a group of miscreants crossed over from Bangladesh and forcibly took him away. The incident sparked tension among locals, who immediately alerted the BSF and police.

With swift intervention, the BSF held a flag meeting with the BGB later in the evening. Following discussions, the BGB handed over Barman to the BSF, who subsequently handed him over to the police. He was reunited with his family the same night.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Barman recounted the ordeal. “We were working on our land when domestic animals from the Bangladeshi side entered our fields and damaged the crops. There was an altercation, which the BSF had resolved. But after they left, the miscreants forcibly took me away in a tanker to the house of a local member. Later, the Bangladesh Police and BGB intervened and returned me to the BSF,” he said.

Residents of the border areas have expressed concern over recurring tensions and said such incidents create an atmosphere of constant fear.