ThePrint ·
Burden of proof: ‘Bangladeshi’ label, border pushbacks, jail: An Indian citizen’s 3-month ordeal
66-year-old Akhtar was picked up by police, taken twice to Bangladesh border, jailed despite valid documents. After 3 months, court granted him bail after investigators verified his documents.
New Delhi: Around 11 pm 19 June, 66-year-old Jalil Akhtar, a resident of West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district was woken up by a loud knock on his door. “When I opened the door, a bunch of policemen were standing who wanted my help to find the house of a local who was involved in a fight,” Akhtar said. But in a few minutes, it was Akhtar whom the police picked him and allegedly threatened him with severe action if he raised an alarm.
That was the beginning of Akhtar’s three-month ordeal during which he was labelled a “Bangladeshi national”, allegedly taken twice to the India-Bangladesh border to “push” him across.
Finally Tuesday night, Akhtar, whose name was in the 2002 voters’ list and the 2026 SIR exercise, was released from the Islampur jail and reunited with his family.
