Three months on, Meghalaya trader abducted by Bangladeshis yet to return

August 30, 2018 03:54 pm | Updated September 12, 2019 03:28 pm IST - GUWAHATI

The members of the family of a Meghalaya cashew nut trader abducted by Bangladeshi miscreants more than three months ago are expected to have their prayers answered soon.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said that the case of 66-year-old Phalgun Arengh has been taken up with the Centre and that his government was leaving no stone unturned for the trader’s repatriation.

Mr. Arengh, a resident of Hatimara village in the Purakhasia area of West Garo Hills district, was abducted on May 24. The village is on the India-Bangladesh border.

According to an FIR filed by his wife Ponji K. Sangma at the police station in Dalu, some miscreants from Bangladesh abducted him. The local police said cross-border criminals could have targeted Mr. Arengh, a prosperous farmer, for ransom.

But Mr. Arengh gave his abductors the slip on June 2 and took refuge in a village named Christianpara in Bangladesh’s Sherpur district. The villagers handed him over to the local Sribordi police station.

West Garo Hills superintendent of police MG Raghavendra Kumar said Mr. Arengh continues to be under police protection in Bangladesh. “We are hoping for a solution to the matter that has been taken up with the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he said.

Daughter seeks PM’s intervention

Ropila Sangma, the abducted trader’s daughter, has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in bringing her father back. “I urge upon the Indian government to expedite the process of repatriation of my father from Bangladesh. He was abducted by criminals but is languishing in a Bangladesh jail,” she said.

She said that it would not be difficult for the Prime Minister’s office to deal with her father’s case fast since India has cordial relations with Bangladesh.

Officials in West Garo Hills said that the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh besides intelligence agencies have been kept in the loop for bringing Mr. Arengh back since the issue involves two countries and has to be handled through diplomatic channels.

BSF officials in the Meghalaya sector said criminals from Bangladesh at times take advantage of dense jungles along the border in the Purakhasia area to raid villages on the Indian side. The area is fenced, though.

Cross-border crimes

There have been instances of Bangladeshi miscreants taking cattle and other valuables from villagers in Meghalaya. An incident similar to that of Mr. Arengh had last year happened with an 18-year-old mine worker in South West Khasi Hills, also bordering Bangladesh.

Seven Bangladeshi nationals had abducted Dajied Kynshai Syiemlieh, the mine worker, on April 27, 2017. He was rescued by Bangladesh police but his repatriation had been stuck in paperwork for a long time.

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