Agartala, April 14 A 35-year-old-woman, supposed to be a Bangladeshi, is stranded between the India and Bangladesh border in Tripura for the past around two weeks. Despite the border guards of the two countries holding a series of meetings her status remains uncertain, officials said on Tuesday.
"The woman, maybe a Bangladeshi, was suddenly noticed by the Border Security Force and villagers on April 2. Since then the officials of BSF and BGB (Border Guards Bangladesh) have held a series of meetings, but the issue remains unresolved," South Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Debapriya Bardhan told over phone from Belonia, the district headquarters.
"Some people on both sides of the border are occasionally providing food to the woman. Despite she being a Bangladeshi citizen, the BGB officials are reluctant to take her back," a BSF official said, refusing to be quoted.
The woman is stranded on the sandy bank of the Feni river, which divides India and Bangladesh along southern Tripura. The official said that both BSF and BGB officials tried to know the name of her village or residential area, but she has remained mostly silent.
"In view of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we think it is risky to take her back on either side," the BSF official said, adding that the woman as per her body language is keen to go to Bangladesh, but the BGB officials have refused to take her back.
( With inputs from IANS )