Tension has gripped Gobindapur along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Sribhumi district following the disappearance of 35-year-old Balai Namasudra, with his family suspecting that he may have been abducted by Bangladeshi nationals while fishing near the border.
According to his family, Balai left home at around 6 am to go fishing but failed to return for several hours. Worried relatives subsequently lodged a missing-person complaint at Sribhumi Sadar Police Station.
Following the complaint, police and the Border Security Force (BSF) launched a search operation to trace him.
The family said Gobindapur falls within Indian territory, but movement in the area beyond the barbed-wire fencing is regulated and requires permission from the BSF. They also claimed that the BSF maintains records of people entering and leaving the area.
The family has raised concerns after Balai’s name was allegedly not found in the BSF entry records. This has added to the uncertainty over how he reached the border area and what happened to him thereafter.
While the family suspects that he may have been abducted, authorities are investigating all possible circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Sribhumi Senior Superintendent of Police Leena Doley confirmed the incident and said police were taking the matter seriously. Search operations are continuing to locate Balai, while investigators are also examining the circumstances that led to his disappearance.