NEW DELHI: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s claim that Mumtaz Begum, a 43-year-old woman who was sent to Bangladesh in June, is safe and in daily touch with her son has left her family with questions.Her son, Momruz Ali (26), told TOI Wednesday that he has had no contact with his mother and received no official communication from authorities about her whereabouts. “The CM says he knows she is safe… but we have no way to find out,” he said. “We are just an ordinary family with little means. How will we ever find her?”Ali’s plea to the Assam and Indian govts is simple: find his mother – “in Assam, India or Bangladesh”. If she is alive, he said, “she has to be on either side”. “It’s govt’s job. Assam Police must take responsibility for finding her,” he said.The family’s anguish is sharpened by Sarma’s earlier remarks that people pushed across the border can cross back into India. “The CM, in a press conference two years ago, said that people cross over and return. In that case, they should search in Assam also. Why only Bangladesh?” Ali saidOn Sept 3, Gauhati HC directed the external affairs ministry to locate Mumtaz in Bangladesh and bring her back to pursue her case before the foreigners tribunal. It ordered Rs 2 lakh interim compensation for her husband, noting she had been expelled without an adult family member being informed.Declared a foreigner in 2019, Mumtaz had got relief from the HC in April this year, which set aside the tribunal’s opinion and ordered fresh consideration of her case, citing deficiencies in its assessment of voter-list records and other citizenship documents. She appeared before the tribunal on May 30, was taken into custody and handed over to BSF before being sent to Bangladesh.
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TOI reported on Sept 29 that Bangladesh’s home ministry had begun searching for Mumtaz after the newspaper reached out to authorities in that country. The matter was referred to relevant departments, but officials had no information. Searches in Sylhet have produced no breakthrough, with Sylhet Ran-ge DIG Mohammad Jahangir Hossain telling TOI he too was trying to locate her.
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