The group, which includes women and children, was found on Sunday between the two border positions in South Salmara-Mankachar district, a sensitive riverine stretch where patrols have been tightened amid a rise in attempted crossings and competing claims over repatriation procedures. The immediate dispute centres on whether the nine should be accepted by Bangladesh after being intercepted by Border Security Force personnel near the Jhalarchar and Shahapara border points.
A flag meeting between the BSF and BGB failed to resolve the impasse, with another round of talks planned as local commanders attempted to prevent the standoff from turning into a wider confrontation. Officials involved in border management said the priority was to avoid escalation while ensuring that the individuals were not left without food, medical attention or protection in the narrow strip between the two countries.
The case has sharpened tensions on a frontier already under strain after Dhaka accused New Delhi of pushing undocumented people across the boundary without following legal and diplomatic procedures. New Delhi has rejected the broader criticism and has pressed Bangladesh to speed up nationality verification for more than 2,860 people suspected of being Bangladeshi nationals staying unlawfully on this side of the border.
The Mankachar episode followed a series of border incidents across eastern and north-eastern states, including a separate standoff in Meghalaya and earlier disputes in West Bengal in which groups of suspected undocumented migrants were left at or near zero-line locations. The pattern has raised concern that unresolved verification cases are increasingly being handled through field-level confrontations rather than orderly repatriation channels.
Video clips from the Mankachar area showed members of the stranded group pleading not to be sent deeper into Assam and asserting that they had documents to prove Bangladeshi citizenship. One man was heard saying they had come for work and feared being caught between the two sides. The authenticity of every claim in the videos could not be independently established, but the footage intensified local attention and brought pressure on border commanders to find a swift settlement.
Assam has intensified action against illegal entry, particularly in districts sharing porous stretches with Bangladesh. Police and BSF personnel stopped 21 suspected infiltrators over the past week, while the state government has publicly backed tougher detection and deportation measures. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly framed illegal migration as a security and demographic concern and has praised enforcement agencies for intercepting suspected entrants.
Bangladesh, however, has maintained that any person identified as its national must be returned only after formal verification and through recognised diplomatic channels. Dhaka has also stepped up patrols and public alerts in border districts to prevent what it describes as forced crossings. This has narrowed the scope for informal handovers that had sometimes allowed local commanders to defuse small incidents before they reached higher levels.
The dispute comes days after the 57th director general-level conference between the BSF and BGB in New Delhi, where both sides agreed to improve coordinated patrols, intelligence sharing and measures against smuggling, trafficking and illegal movement. The same meeting also exposed deep disagreement over “push-in” allegations and the slow pace of nationality verification, issues likely to remain on the agenda when the next round is held in Dhaka in November.
The India-Bangladesh border runs for more than 4,000 km, cutting across rivers, agricultural fields, villages and densely populated settlements. In Assam’s lower districts, shifting river channels and chars create additional enforcement challenges, with residents on both sides often sharing language, family ties and work networks. These conditions complicate efforts to distinguish economic migration, trafficking, accidental crossings and organised infiltration.
Security officials said the Mankachar situation required a careful balance between border enforcement and humanitarian obligations. Leaving people indefinitely at the zero line risks exposure, panic and confrontation, particularly when children are involved. At the same time, accepting or transferring individuals without documentation can become a precedent contested by either side.
