Benapole
Benapole to allow entries from India on 3 days a week
Stranded Bangladeshi nationals in India can enter the country through Benapole port on 3 days of the week, the days being Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
This directive of the Home Ministry reached Benapole Immigration in the early hours of Saturday.
As a result, no one could enter the country on Saturday through Benapole, confirmed the officer-in charge of Benapole Immigration Ahsan Habib.
Also read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
“People can enter Bangladesh (both Bangladeshi and Indian) through Benapole Port only on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from now on,” the OC said.
Those looking to enter Bangladesh must carry with them an RT-PCR certificate (with a negative result) and NOC from the Bangladesh High Commission in India, he added.
Also read: Border with India to remain closed for another 14 days: Secretary
Although no-one was allowed to enter on Saturday, 11 Indians and 2 Bangladeshis did go across, carrying the test certificates and NOCs from the Indian High Commissioner.
Benapole: International kidney trading racket busted, one held
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has claimed to have busted an international human kidney trading racket and detained a gang member.
Members of the force also rescued a man from the clutches of the accused as he was about to be trafficked to India through the Benapole border, the BGB said in a release.
Read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
The accused has been identified as Anisur Rahman, 27, son of Fazlul Haque of Gazipur City Corporation area. The rescued man, Md Yunus Ali, 36, is the son of Idris Ali Mandal of Dhukuriabera village in Sirajganj district.
BGB has also recovered the passport of a woman, Runa Begum, from the possession of the accused, the release said.
Yunus told BGB that Anisur lured him with a job offer in India on an annual pay package of Tk 3,70,000, and that he was not aware of the ill intentions of the accused.
Read:Arms, valuables, drugs worth Tk 120 crore seized from Benapole in 2020
Jessore 49 BGB Battalion Commander Lt. Col Selim Reza said both the accused and the victim trafficker have been handed over to the Benapole Port police.
Mamun Khan, officer-in-charge of Benapole Port police station, said the kidney trafficker would be produced in a court on Friday.
3 Bangladeshis return home after serving jail in India
Three Bangladeshis including a woman returned home on Sunday night after languishing in Indian prison for two years.
Read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
The returnees are Imran Hossain, 26, son of Joynal Hossain of Sadarpur in Faridpur district, Elahi Mia, 55, son of Shaheed Mia of Bancharampur in Brahmanbaria district and Taslima Akter, 21, daughter of Ali Molla of Digholia in Khulna district.
Indian police arrested them from different parts of the country when they went there in search of work and a court sentenced them to two years jail in India.
Read:105 Bangladeshis return from India through Benapole
Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of Benapole Check-post Immigration Police, said Indian police handed them over to Benapole Immigration after their jail term ended.
All the three victims were taken to a 14-day mandatory quarantine. After completion of 14-day quarantine they will be handed over to a local NGO.
Read: 15 stranded Bangladeshis return home through Benapole
3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
Despite travel restrictions and locked borders, 3,350 Bangladeshis returned through Benapole land port since April 26.
Seventeen of these India returnees have tested positive for Covid-19, said Benapole immigration officials.
Utpal Roy, medical officer of Benapole immigration health department, said people returning from India are being sent to 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Those who are already infected or getting infected later are being sent to the red zone of Jashore General Hospital’s Corona Unit, said the medical officer.
Benapole port immigration sources said most of the returnees went to India for treatment and are returning with special permission from the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata.
Some of the returnees said Bangladeshis would not have gone to India for treatment if our health service was developed enough.
Officer-in-Charge of Benapole immigration check post Ahsan Habib said everyday Bangladeshis are returning from India with NOC and Indians stuck in Bangladesh are following the same procedure.
Bangladesh’s border with India has remained shut since April 26 as the number of cases soared in the neighbouring country. But the movement of cargoes has remained unaffected.
Bangladeshi citizens currently travelling to India for treatment and having visas with validity for less than 15 days are allowed to enter Bangladesh through only Benapole, Akhaura and Burimari land ports after taking permission from Bangladesh Missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala and with Covid-negative certificates.
Benapole Port to remain shut for 3 days
Trade with India through the Benapole Land Port will remain suspended from May 13 to May 15 during the celebrations of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival of the Muslims.
Import-export activities through the port remained suspended on Monday on the occasion of Shab-e-Qadr, the holiest night in the Islamic calendar.
Assistant Director of the port Atiqul Islam said export-import, customs and other activities will remain shut from Thursday due to Eid holiday.
Trade activities will resume from May 16, he said.
Also read: 105 Bangladeshis return from India through Benapole
Deputy Director of the port (traffic) Mamun Trafdar said security will be tightened at the port.
Benapole port police station’s Officer-in-Charge Azizul Haque said they will remain alert to avert any untoward incident during the holiday.
Benapole check post’s immigration Officer-in-Charge Ahsan Habib said no-one can travel to India or come to Bangladesh from the neighbouring country through the port due to the travel ban imposed on April 26.
But those who got stuck in India before the border shutdown can return by securing release paper from the concerned High Commission. They must complete a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, he said.
50 India returnees put in quarantine in Magura
Fifty Bangladeshi nationals who returned home from India through Benapole on Saturday night have been placed in quarantine in Magura district.
Joynal Abedin, officer-in-charge of Magura Police Station, said the India returnees entered the country through Benapole border on Saturday night and all of them have been brought to Magura district under the supervision of police and local administration.
Later, they were taken to government quarrrantine centers Eagle Hotel and Soikat Hotel.
Also Read:10 India returnees test negative for Covid-19: Chattogram Civil Surgeon
Before taking to the quarantine centres, the authorities concerned took samples for their Covid test and asked them to maintain health guidelines.
Besides, the local administration also declared Hotel Mandal International and the rest house of the Department of Youth Development in Magura district town quarantine centres.
Abu Syed, Medical Officer of Magura Sadar Upazila Health Complex, said, “The Bangladeshi nationals who returned from India hail from different parts of the district and they will stay there for 14-day quarantine and the health officials will check them regularly.”
Earlier, on Saturday, a confirmed case of Indian Coronavirus strain was detected in Bangladesh, says the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research(IEDCR).
"The Indian variant of Coronavirus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. It has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data(GSID)," said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
Also Read:445 India returnees kept at 11 quarantine centres in Khulna
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) DG Dr ABM Khurshid Alam also told the media that the Indian variant of Coronavirus has been found in Bangladesh.
The infected patients returned from India. They had been there for treatment, and now they’re staying in Jeshore,” he added.
Professor Nasima Sultana, additional director general of the institution, also confirmed the development at a press conference in the afternoon.
No hotel vacancy in Benapole and Narail
Bangladeshis returning from India through Benapole checkpost are being sent to hotels in Khulna for 14-days quarantine.
Since Saturday, India-returnees have been sent to Khulna.
After all the 12 hotels and a madrasa in Benapole were filled with people from India by Thursday, they were sent to the hotels in Narail on Friday.
Also read: 105 Bangladeshis return from India through Benapole
To cope with overwhelming crowd of returnees, this step has been taken.
Every day, Bangladeshis stuck in India are returning in groups through Benapole checkpost.
Read Liquid oxygen import from India suspended at Benapole
Most of the stranded passengers were staying in India for treatment.
About 70 Bangladeshis returned to the country by 3 pm on Sunday.
They were taken to Khulna under special arrangements.
Also read: 15 stranded Bangladeshis return home through Benapole
So far 1199 people have returned from India after the lockdown.
As per the government instructions, the returnees are being kept in 14-day institutional quarantine.
Read Arms, valuables, drugs worth Tk 120 crore seized from Benapole in 2020
105 Bangladeshis return from India through Benapole
Another batch of 105 Bangladeshis returned home from India through the Benapole checkpost on Friday morning.
They are undergoing a 14-day quarantine at a Benapole hotel at their own expense.
They returned with NOC from the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, 21 Indians have returned to their country from Bangladesh.
Many patients and students went to India before Bangladesh announced a 14-day border closure with the neighbouring country.
A Samad, a passenger from India, said the border closure should have been announced at least a day earlier. “It’d have saved us a lot of trouble at the border,” he said.
Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge Benapole Immigration, said people with special permits from the high commission are being allowed to cross the border.
In the last four days, 810 Bangladeshis have returned home from India through Benapole, according to officials.
15 stranded Bangladeshis return home through Benapole
Fifteen among the 300 Bangladeshis who got stranded in India's Petrapole land port returned home on Tuesday morning through Benapole checkpost.
They entered the country after receiving NOC from the Deputy High Commission office of Bangladesh in Kolkata.
They will be put on a14-day quarantine at a residential hotel in Benapole after completion of formalities.
Also read: Liquid oxygen import from India suspended at Benapole
Ahsan Habib, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Benapole Immigration, said he have already received a letter to stop immigration for 14 days.
The 15 Bangladeshis were allowed to return as they got special permission from Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, he said.
It was reported on Monday that around 300 Bangladeshis were stranded in India's Petrapole land port following Bangladesh government's decision to close the border with India due to a huge surge in Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring country.
Most of the Bangladeshis stranded there were either patients or students.
They said the border closure should have been announced a few days earlier.
Also read: Bangladesh-India transboundary river dying due to graft in ...
However, import and export activities are normal at Benapole port.
Matiar Rahman, director of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, said that disinfectants are not being sprayed on Indian trucks inside the port. The port authorities have not taken any initiative to sanitize them.
Besides, Indian truck drivers are moving freely at Benapole market, putting local people at risk, he added.
Abdul Jalil, acting director of Benapole Land Port, said there were no restrictions on trade activities between the two countries and. instructions have been given to keep all activities normal at the port in compliance with hygiene rules.
Liquid oxygen import from India suspended at Benapole
Liquid oxygen import from India remained suspended at Benapole check-post for the past four days as the neighboring country has been struggling with shortage of oxygen amid the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic.
The last oxygen-laden tanker was unloaded on April 22 and last week 29 tankers with around 1,815 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen was imported from India through Benapole port, said Deputy Commissioner Mustafizur Rahman of Benapole Customs House.
Also read: Border with India to remain shut for 14 days: FM
Bangladeshi company Linde Bangladesh imported the liquid oxygen, he said.
Customs sources said every month around 30,000 metric tonnes of oxygen is imported from India as the country is one of the key exporters of oxygen to Bangladesh.
In recent times demand for oxygen cylinders increased rapidly due to the second wave of Coronavirus and the suspension also causing Bangladeshi traders a huge economic blow and crisis in the medical services.
Read Chandpur General Hospital to get oxygen plant
Representative of Indian oxygen importers and Bangladesh-India Chamber of Commerce Director Motiar Rahman said India currently suspended the export as the country witnessed a record number of infections and deaths in recent time.
Oxygen is the key factor for saving lives of Covid-19 infected patients, he said, hoping that India will resume the export for the sake of friendship between the two countries.
Linde Bangladesh is also planning to import oxygen from Singapore, he added.
Also read: Netherlands to ban flights from India over virus fears