| Location |  |
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Chennai | |
| 26°
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| Location | |
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Chennai | |
| 26°
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Bangladeshi prisoners observed fast for their release: Sharma
KOLKATA: Even as the Centre is planning radical reforms in the prison system, 138 Bangladeshi nationals resorted to hunger strikes and protests recently to secure their release from a prison in West Bengal's Murshidabad district despite them having served their full sentence.
While 102 prisoners were deported to Bangladesh over the past two weeks, the deportation orders for the remaining 36 persons have been received and will be sent back shortly, said B.D. Sharma, the State's Additional Director General and Inspector General Correctional Services.
Recently some of them had gone on a hunger strike at the Berhampore Central Jail, demanding their release after which the Department of Correctional Services took immediate action.
“This is a persisting issue — a human problem — where bureaucratic processes result in these persons having to be kept in prison even after they have been declared released prisoners,” Mr. Sharma admitted.
If a Bangladeshi is arrested here for entering the country without required documentation, according to provisions of the Foreigners Act, he or she can be sentenced for a period between six months and three years.
But most of the time these persons end up languishing in prisons for much longer periods as the process of repatriation is lengthy and involves several authorities, he said.
