Dhaka summons heads of its Agartala & Kolkata missions

KOLKATA: Bangladesh authorities summoned to Dhaka Thursday the heads of the country’s deputy high commission in Kolkata and assistant high commission in Agartala for “urgent meetings” on the “emerging situation” involving India and its neighbour.

The interim goverment’s move comes in the wake of outrage in Bengal and Tripura, both of which border Bangladesh, over Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari’s arrest on sedition charges and reports of minorities being persecuted there.

Sources said the two envoys weren’t informed about the duration of their Dhaka trip, suggesting it could be “for an indefinite period”.

Sikder Mohammad Ashrafur Rahman, minister (political) and head of chancery at Bangladesh’s deputy high commission in Kolkata, reached Dhaka late Thursday.

Arif Mohammad, assistant high commissioner in the Agartala mission, is scheduled to reach Dhaka by Saturday, sources said. Earlier this week, protesters in Agartala had breached the assistant high commission’s office, following which the mission suspended consular services.