Twenty-four Bangladeshis, including 11 women, returned to Bangladesh through the Benapole check post on Wednesday night after serving two years in an Indian jail. According to Bangladesh police, they were handed over to Bangladeshi immigration authorities at Benapole on Thursday.

The Benapole Immigration Police officer-in-charge stated that the individuals had traveled to India two years ago without valid documents in search of work, with the assistance of local brokers. They were arrested by Kolkata police and sentenced to two years in prison for trespassing.

After completing their sentences, Indian authorities handed them over to the Benapole check post immigration police on Wednesday night. Benapole police subsequently transferred them to a representative of a human rights organization in Jessore, to send them back to their respective families.