Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said it arrested a 35-year-old man from Assam’s Sribhumi district on August 27 after he was reported missing earlier that day. The man, identified as Balai Namasudra of Gobindapur village, was taken into custody in the Kumarshail border area of Barlekha upazila in Moulvibazar, the BGB said, adding that he was suspected of smuggling drugs and arms into Bangladesh.
Balai’s wife, Mamata Namasudra, told reporters that her husband routinely went fishing near the border pillar and left on the morning of August 27 at about 5:30 am to collect fish from a net he had set the previous evening. She said she later received a WhatsApp call from someone in Bangladesh who asked for photocopies of Balai’s voter ID, Aadhaar card and passport.
“The caller told me Balai had been caught in Bangladesh for entering there illegally and that he would be sent back after basic documentation, for which these documents were needed,” Mamata said. She added that she shared the requested documents with the caller via WhatsApp.
The BGB said that during a special operation at the time of arrest its personnel recovered a foreign-made pistol, two rounds of .22-bore ammunition and 500 Yaba tablets from Balai. Yaba tablets are methamphetamine-based pills commonly trafficked in the region.
Trinayan Bhuyan, additional superintendent of police (crime) in Sribhumi, said police responded after receiving a missing-person complaint and began an investigation. Because the location where Balai went missing lies outside the fenced border area, the police coordinated with the Border Security Force (BSF), Bhuyan added.
Villagers in Gobindapur recalled a similar case nearly eight years ago, when another resident, Binanda Namasudra, was detained by the BGB and spent about a year in Bangladesh before being released. Police said inquiries into Balai’s arrest and the alleged smuggling are ongoing.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/missing-assam-man-detained-in-bangladesh-for-illegal-entry-smuggling-drugs-11976296#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-08-30 01:28:00
