Dhaka: Almost half of the foreign prisoners in India are lodged in different jails of West Bengal and most of them are Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims.

Quoting recent data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, The Times of India on Sunday reported that nearly 47 percent of the foreign prisoners are lodged in Bengal jails and most of them are Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims.  

The Rohingya Muslims were arrested while trying to cross over to India through Bangladesh, the report mentioned.

Quoting unnamed sources the report mentioned that since there is no repatriation treaty with Bangladesh, several prisoners from the neighbouring country are still languishing in jails even after their terms are over.

Of the 6000-plus foreign prisoners lodged in different jails in the country, 2935 are in West Bengal, according to the NCRB data.

Among them, 1113 are convicts and the rest are under-trial ones. ‘There’re several foreign prisoners, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar (read Rohingyas),’ said Madhurima Dhanuka, consultant with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an NGO which works in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and fights for the release of the Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

Take the case of Yousuf, a resident of Panoor gram panchayat in Kerala's Kannur district.  

He was arrested from Bongaon on 18 January 2012 while trying to cross the border. He was sentenced to prison for 650 days. Yousuf was convicted on the ground that he, being a Pakistani national, intruded on India.   

He has been languishing at Dum Dum Central Jail despite a release order in November 2013. Reason: Pakistan refused to recognize him as its own citizen.

Nearly 100 Rohingya Muslims lodged in various prisons across Bengal are staring at an uncertain future as their plea to get refugee status is yet to be heard by the Indian authorities.  

The Rohingyas, originally residents of Myanmar, were arrested when they were trying to cross over to India through Bangladesh.  

According to sources, there are 320 prisoners in Bengal jails who have completed their terms. Most of them are Bangladeshis, but two are from Nigeria, two from Myanmar, one from Ukraine and one from Lesotho.