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‘Living on puffed rice’: Indian truckers stuck at Indo-Bangladesh border
Even as PM Sheikh Hasina has fled, and a new interim government is beginning to take shape, officials said that as many as 500 Indian truck drivers are stuck.
For eight days, caught in a country going through violent upheaval, 26-year-old Bipol Haldar lived in fear. In late July, the truck driver had made the familiar journey from West Bengal across the Bangladesh border, transporting clothes and construction items. But by the beginning of August, as the country began to spiral, Haldar was desperate to return. He arrived at Benapole—in Bangladesh territory—barely metres from the Petrapole border, the gateway to India. And yet, for eight days, that is where they had to live.
“From August 4, all the shops were closed. There was violence everywhere and Indian truck drivers like me had to take shelter in our own trucks inside a parking lot in Bangladesh,” Haldar said, as he lived on puffed rice for the past four days.
Even as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has fled, and a new interim government beginning to take shape, government officials said that as many as 500 Indian truck drivers are stuck on the other side of the Bangladesh border, with only the first trickle able to return on Wednesday evening. Those that are in Bangladesh, officials said, are being guarded by Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) personnel.
Read Here: What explains the Bangladesh crisis?
An Indian customs official, who asked not to be named said, “Until today, there were no unloaders across the border. All the trucks that went to Bangladesh were stuck along with the goods. Even if our drivers found people to unload the exported goods, there were no transporters to take it to other parts of Bangladesh. This is why over 500 trucks and their drivers were stuck in Bangladesh.” Crucially, the Indian official said, customs officials in Bangladesh had closed their offices over the past few days, and fled for their lives, making any travel across the border impossible.
It was only around 7pm on Wednesday that the first batch of 40 Indian trucks returned to Petrapole. Jeet Biswas, one of the drivers of these trucks said, “On Saturday night, we had run out of food supplies. Until then, the situation was okay. But on Sunday morning, when I stepped out with my helper to buy food, I saw mobs throwing burnt tyres at homes. That is when we fled back to the parking lot,” Biswas, a Kolkata resident said.
45-year-old Ananta Vishwas, a driver and a resident of Malda said that he saw mobs of between 300 and 400 people burn vehicles. “We were not even getting updates about what is happening. When we heard news of Sheikh Hasina fleeing, we thought we would be harmed too. But the Bangladesh guards protected us. Almost 40 of us have managed to return. It will take more than a week for the rest because there are only a few loaders and transporters to carry, remove and transport the weight of over 500 trucks,” Vishwas said.
As the trucks arrived in India on Wednesday, they were met by BSF personnel who conducted checks inside each vehicle, looking for hidden cavities where items can be smuggled. The priority, they said, was not just smuggled goods, but people. “We have heard reports of prisoners escaping from Bangladeshi jails with looted weapons. They could try to enter India. That is a bigger worry and the border is on high alert,” a BSF official said.
