Sixteen Bangladeshi youths returned home on Sunday night from India through the Benapole check post after serving three years in an Indian prison.

Benapole Immigration Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Kamruzzaman said the youths went to India without valid documents through human traffickers and then were detained by police while they were working at various shops and hotels in Tamil Nadu state.

Later, they were handed over to a court which sentenced them to three years of imprisonment.

At the end of the sentence, the ministries of home affairs of the two countries took initiative to send them back to Bangladesh.

The Indian immigration police handed them over to Benapole Port police station and NGO ‘Justice and Care’ received them.

The returnees are Bulbul Ahmed,18, Mohsin Sheikh, 17, Abul Hossain, 16, Masum Billah, 15, Rezaul Khan, 18, Shahjalal, 17, Hasan Halder, 17, Nazmul Islam, 17, Masud Talukder, 18, Zulhas Sheikh, 18, Rashed Morel, 17, Rashedul Islam, 18, Saiduzzaman, 16, Abu Musa, 15, Mizanur Rahman, 17 and Mahbul Shikder, 17. 

They hail from different areas of Satkhira, Khulna and Madaripur districts.