Nearly 150 Indian nationals continue to remain lodged in prisons across Bangladesh even after completing their jail terms, as delays in official procedures have held up their return home, officials said on Monday.
A prison official said 152 foreign nationals, including 148 Indians, were still in Bangladeshi jails despite having served their sentences. The figures were part of prison records compiled around six months ago.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some of these inmates had completed their sentences several years ago. However, delays in identity verification and a slow bureaucratic and diplomatic process have prolonged their stay in prison. He said many of the Indian nationals had been arrested for offences such as illegally crossing the border into Bangladesh.
According to a report published by a Bangladesh news portal on Monday, 17 Indian nationals are still lodged in the Shariatpur District Jail in southwestern Bangladesh despite completing their prison terms.
The report said the inmates have not been released because their identities have not yet been formally verified. Prison authorities also claimed that repeated efforts to contact the Indian High Commission had not yielded any response.
Shariatpur jailer Papiya Sultana told the portal that police had detained 20 people near the Padma Bridge in separate incidents during 2022 and 2023. They were later sent to jail following court orders.
She said that although the inmates had completed their sentences, they continued to remain in custody under the category of "release prisoners" as the repatriation process was still pending.
Sultana said two Indian nationals, identified as Satyendra Kumar and Babul Singh, died in jail on February 2, 2024. Another inmate, known as Rajan, died on May 29, 2025.
Prison officials said the bodies of the three inmates remained in the morgue of Shariatpur Sadar Hospital for an extended period. After completing legal formalities, two of the bodies were cremated locally in January 2025, while the third was cremated in December 2025.
As per the report, the Shariatpur prison currently houses 14 Indian men and three Indian women. Officials said many of them face communication difficulties because of language barriers.
Prison authorities have also expressed concern over the health of some inmates, saying that a few of them have been reluctant to eat properly.
Shariatpur District Bar Association General Secretary Mridha Nazrul Kabir said the matter required coordinated efforts by the foreign and law ministries so that the inmates could be reunited with their families and sent back to their home country.
Officials in Dhaka said that apart from Indian nationals, citizens of Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria are also awaiting repatriation after completing their prison terms.
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