Four members of Bengal family pushed to Bangladesh, rights group seeks probe

Four members of a Bengali Muslim family in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, including a minor, were allegedly detained by plainclothes police personnel and pushed back to Bangladesh after being accused of being Bangladeshi nationals, according to the rights organisation Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM).

The individuals were identified as 60-year-old Dablu Saikh and his three sons, Kayem Sk, 29, Rajaul Sk, 20, and Asmaul Sk, 16. MASUM said the family members were taken from their home in Baliaghati village, under the Suti police station area, during the night of August 13–14, Maktoob Media reported.

According to an account provided by Dablu’s wife, Jahanara Bibi, five to six personnel in plain clothes arrived at their residence around 10 a.m. and took her husband away. When the family went to a nearby police camp to enquire about him, they allegedly learned that his three sons had also been detained. The family was reportedly told that the four men were Bangladeshi nationals and not Indian citizens.

A fact-finding team from MASUM, which visited the Suti-I and Suti-II areas in September, said Dablu Saikh and his son Kayem continued to appear on the electoral rolls and had voted in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The organisation also noted that Dablu possessed Aadhaar and ration cards, while his father, Sk Samjani, had been listed as a voter as early as 1966.

When the team raised these records with Suti police station Inspector-in-Charge Avijit Basu Mallick, he reportedly said he was certain that Dablu was a Bangladeshi national. The officer also stated that Dablu and two of his sons had been handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and subsequently pushed back or deported to Bangladesh following an order from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).

Kirity Roy, national convenor of the Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), criticised the alleged action in comments to *Maktoob*. He said the incident indicated that a government that appeared democratic was moving towards becoming a police state.

MASUM argued that the family’s electoral and identity records warranted an independent assessment of their nationality rather than what it described as an unexplained declaration that they were Bangladeshi nationals.

The organisation has called on authorities to disclose the written order authorising the alleged deportation, the identity and designation of the officer who issued it, the verification report on which the decision was based and details of any proceedings before the FRRO. It also sought information on when and where the family members were handed over to the BSF, records of the alleged push-back and any confirmation of their identity or nationality obtained from Bangladeshi authorities.

The detention and alleged deportation of Asmaul, who was approximately 16 years old at the time, have raised particular concern. MASUM said a minor could not be treated as an adult foreign national solely on the basis of a general allegation concerning his family. It stressed that his age, identity, family circumstances and legal status required separate consideration and appropriate procedural safeguards.

The rights group demanded the immediate and safe return of all four family members to India if they had been taken across the border without a lawful and independently verifiable determination of their foreign nationality.

It also called for an independent, time-bound investigation into the alleged arrest, detention, transfer and deportation. The probe, it said, should examine police verification reports, FRRO proceedings, BSF handover records and communications with Bangladeshi authorities.

MASUM further sought an independent inquiry into the conduct of police, intelligence and immigration officials involved in the family’s verification, detention and alleged deportation. It demanded criminal and departmental action against officials found to have knowingly relied on or communicated false information, as well as verification of the family’s electoral and civil records, including historical records concerning Dablu’s father.

The allegations come amid wider concerns raised by rights groups over the alleged targeting and expulsion of Bengali-speaking Muslims accused of being “Bangladeshi infiltrators”. Activists have questioned whether such actions are being carried out without adequate nationality verification, due process or formal deportation orders.