379 students enter India from violence-hit Bangladesh through Tripura border in last 2 days

Agartala, Jul 21 (PTI) Altogether 379 students entered India in the last two days from violence-hit Bangladesh through integrated check posts in Tripura, a Border Security Force official said here on Sunday.

Of the total returnees, 365 crossed over the international border on Saturday and four on Friday, he said.

The returnees include three Nepalese students.

“A total of 379 students entered India in the past 48 hours from violence-hit Bangladesh through check posts at Srimantapur in Sepahijala and Agartala (Akhaura) in West Tripura, and more are expected to return on Sunday,” the BSF official said.

According to him, students, who are stranded in Bangladesh’s Brahmanbaria and Dhaka, are expected to return on Sunday.

Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Agartala, Manager Debasish Nandi told PTI, “Our facilities are open on Sunday for the people, including students, who want to return home. The ICP Agartala remains open till 11 pm to receive the students stranded in Bangladesh.”

BSF, Tripura Frontier, Inspector General (IG) Patel Piyush Purushottam Das had assured all possible assistance to returnees and spoke to the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) officers for cooperation at their end.

Violence escalated in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka and elsewhere over student protests demanding reforms of the quota system for government jobs.

The protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 against Pakistan.