Politics

India hands back two Bangladeshi policemen detained near the Comilla border

The two men crossed into Indian territory while chasing a suspected drug trader, were held overnight by the BSF and returned after a flag meeting between the two border forces.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 18 Oct 2026, 08:11

A Bangladesh-India border pillar at Kosba in Brahmanbaria (file photo). — A Bangladesh-India border pillar (No. 2039) at Kosba in Brahmanbaria, similar to the pillars that mark the Comilla frontier where two Bangladeshi policemen strayed on 15 October 2026. File photo. Saiful1215 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

At a glance

India's BSF returned two Bangladeshi policemen about 15 hours after they crossed into Indian territory near Comilla.
ASI Imran Hossain and Constable Rohit Dewan were chasing a suspected drug trader when they were detained.
A flag meeting between the BGB and the BSF secured their return; the BGB says the two were unharmed.

India's Border Security Force handed back two Bangladeshi police personnel on Friday afternoon, about 15 hours after they crossed into Indian territory while chasing a suspected drug trader near the Comilla border.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Imran Hossain and Constable Rohit Dewan, both of Brahmanpara police station, were detained on Thursday night. Police said the two had gone with a team to the Ashabari area of Shashidal union, near border pillar No 2059, at about 10:30pm for a drug recovery operation. When suspected drug peddlers fled, Constable Dewan gave chase and crossed the border without realising it; Indian residents held him and handed him to the BSF. ASI Hossain was detained when he went to secure his colleague's release.

The Border Guard Bangladesh said the two were handed over at about 1:30pm on Friday following a battalion commander-level flag meeting with the BSF near border pillar No 2059. The BGB's Sultanpur Battalion commander, Lt Col SM Shariful Islam; the Shashidal border outpost commander, Subedar Mohammad Takbir Hossain; Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Shahin; and Brahmanpara police station chief Faruk Hossain attended the meeting.

The BGB's director of operations, Lt Col Md Mahbub Murshed Rahman, told a briefing at the force's Pilkhana headquarters that formal communication had been held with the BSF and that the two policemen were unharmed. The BSF handed them to the BGB, which passed them to Bangladesh Police minutes later.

Bangladesh and India share a border of about 4,096 kilometres, and incidents along it are usually resolved through flag meetings between the two border forces.

Sources & further reading

BSF returns two Bangladesh police personnel detained in India - Dhaka Tribune India's BSF hands back detained Bangladeshi policemen after border talks - bdnews24

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