Three Bangladeshi Teenagers Trapped by Middlemen Detained in India for Four Years

Staff Reporter | PNN:

Three Bangladeshi teenagers, who fell into a middleman’s trap after being promised a trip to South Africa, have been detained in Lucknow Jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, for four years. Their families are living in anxiety as they have been unable to secure their return despite repeated attempts through various channels.

The detained teenagers are Mehedi (19), Momin (18), and Shawon (16), residents of Jonail area in Madariganj Upazila. According to their families, in 2021, two local businessmen from the same village took several lakh takas from them under the pretext of sending them to South Africa at a low cost. Later, the middlemen took the three teenagers to India, fabricated documents, and brought them to Lucknow.

On 27 October 2021, the Lucknow police arrested the teenagers. Authorities seized three fake passports, three Aadhaar cards, three voter ID cards, and twelve ATM cards from them. The local businessmen who accompanied them fled the scene.

Shawon’s father, Rezaul Karim, said, “My son didn’t understand anything. The middlemen did everything, threatening their lives.” Mehedi’s father, Sona Mondal, added, “We are poor. We sold our last belongings to send our son abroad, but the middlemen sent him to India instead.”

Shawkat Ali, former councillor of Ward 7, Pashua, Madariganj Municipality, stated that despite repeated appeals to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Indian Embassy, the teenagers have not been released.