Archive · 9 Aug 2026
Bengal Tea Worker Abducted Near Border, Family Alleges Bangladeshi Gang
A man who works on a tea farm in India went to his garden to spray the plants.
Suddenly, some people from the other side of the border came and took him away.
His family thinks those people came from Bangladesh.
They believe this happened because a man from Bangladesh was caught trying to sneak into India a few days earlier.
The family says the people who took the tea worker wanted payback for stopping the sneak-in.
Soldiers from India and Bangladesh talked to each other to try to bring him home.
But by nighttime, he was still not free.
A video of him appeared on the internet, but no one knows if it is real.
In the video, he seems to say he can only go home if the caught man is released.
Everyone is hoping he will come back safely.
Dipankar Gope, a 35-year-old tea worker, was allegedly abducted from his tea garden in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district near the India-Bangladesh border on Saturday.
His family alleges around 20 Bangladeshi miscreants crossed the border, overpowered him, and forcibly took him into Bangladesh's Panchagarh district.
The family suspects the abduction was retaliation after a Bangladeshi national was intercepted trying to enter India illegally on August 6.
BSF held a flag meeting with Border Guard Bangladesh officials, but Gope had not been released by Saturday night and was reportedly in BGB custody.
A purported, unverified social media video shows Gope allegedly saying he will only be released after the arrested Bangladeshi national is freed.
- Who
- Dipankar Gope, a 35-year-old tea worker from Tasar Para in the border village of Chaulhati, West Bengal.
- What
- Allegedly abducted from his tea garden by around 20 suspected Bangladeshi miscreants and forcibly taken into Bangladesh.
- When
- Saturday, August 9, 2026, days after a Bangladeshi national's illegal border-crossing attempt on August 6.
- Where
- Kukurjan area of Rajganj block, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, near the India-Bangladesh border; he was taken to Panchagarh district, Bangladesh.
- Why
- His family suspects the abduction was retaliation for the thwarting of a Bangladeshi national's illegal entry attempt into India.
- Victim
- Dipankar Gope, 35-year-old tea worker
- Location
- Kukurjan, Rajganj block, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal
- Date of incident
- Saturday, August 9, 2026
- Alleged abductors
- Around 20 suspected Bangladeshi miscreants
- Destination
- Panchagarh district, Bangladesh
- Prior incident
- Bangladeshi national intercepted crossing border illegally on August 6
- Status
- Reportedly in BGB custody as of Saturday night; not yet released
- Response
- Flag meeting between BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh