27 held from Jhenaidah border while entering the country illegally

 Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested 27 people including women and children while entering the country illegally through Matila and Samanta borders in Maheshpur upazila early Monday.

All the arrestees claimed that they are Bangladeshi citizens.

Tipped off, a team of BGB Khalishpur-58 Battalion, conducted a drive in Matila area and arrested 19 people, said director of the battalion Lieutenant Colonel Quamrul Ahsan.

The border guards also arrested eight more people from Samanta area of the border at the same time.

However, the BGB is on high alert over the spread of Covid-19 as neighbouring country India has been experiencing a devastating surge in Covid-19 for the last four weeks.

The government has decided to extend the closure of the border with India for another 14 days keeping the movement of cargoes carrying goods uninterrupted as the  Covid-19 situation keeps worsening in India.

The latest decision of the extension was taken at a virtual meeting held on Saturday with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in the chair.

Earlier, the government closed the border with India for 14 days with effect from April 26 but cargoes carrying goods were allowed to operate as usual.