NEW DELHI: Amid the escalation of student protests, which have left over 50 dead, nearly 200 Indian students are returning home through the West Bengal border.”Around 96 students crossed the border at Gede Darshana by 5.30 pm on Friday and none of the students who were waiting to cross back were left behind. Another batch of over 100 students are expected to cross into India during the course of the night,” said a source.Authorities on both sides of the India-Bangladesh border including immigration, Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be working beyond office hours to clear these students.”Around 13 Nepalese students were also permitted to cross the border to India after their embassy made an official request to India,” the source added.Meanwhile, the Maitreyee train connecting Kolkata and Dhaka was cancelled due to the volatile situation in Bangladesh on Friday. As a result, Indian students took different routes to reach the border by early Friday morning.”The Indian High Commission had arranged for security through SPs and DCs locally. The BSF was extremely cooperative and ensured no student was left behind,” the source added. There are over 15,000 Indians living in Bangladesh, out of which 8500 are students. The recent unrest in Bangladesh has impacted the student community who are protesting against reservations as a result of which some Indian students have chosen to return.
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