Body of man found floating in West Bengal's Nadia returned to family in Bangladesh

The body of a 67-year- old man, which had floated down a river from Bangladesh to the Indian side more than a week ago, was handed over to his family, thanks to the keen interest of the local people and the social media.

Locals of Swarnakhali-Durgapur area in West Bengal's border district of Nadia had spotted the body floating on Mathabhanga river on September 30 and informed the police, an official said.

"The unidentified body was fished out of the water and sent to the morgue. It was assumed that the body might have floated down the river from Bangladesh. The locals wrote about it in social media and some even contacted people they know across the border," the police officer said.

It then came to be known that a person in Bangladesh had drowned while bathing in the river at Chuadanga in Bangladesh, about 55 km away, on September 30, he said.

His family members on coming to know that a body had been found floating in the river in neighbouring Nadia in India contacted the BSF through the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

A flag meeting between the border forces of the two countries was held at zero point on October 2 and the man's body was identified by his family members by his clothes, the official said.

The body was finally handed over to the BGB at Gede on Thursday, he said. According to Bangladesh authorities, the man was identified as Mahammad Wajed Ali, a resident of Darshana village in Chuadanga district, he added.