Branded a spy, Indian man with mental illness awaits return from Bangladesh
A 66-year-old mentally challenged man from Malda, West Bengal, who accidentally crossed into Bangladesh and was wrongly suspected of being a spy, has finally been identified as Tinkari Rishi. Amateur radio operators from both countries played a crucial role in rescuing him.
Kolkata: A mentally challenged man, who inadvertently crossed the international border with Bangladesh, and was suspected to be a spy, is now awaiting expatriation to India and reunification with his family in the Malda district of West Bengal, government officials said on Wednesday.
Amateur radio operators from Bangladesh and India have approached authorities to help in the process.
The 66-year-old man was rescued from next to a highway in the Rangpur district of Bangladesh on March 10, 2025.
HAMs from Bangladesh took charge, cleaned him up, provided fresh clothes and contacted their contacts in the West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC), an organisation that uses the amateur radio network to reunite lost people with their families.
Trouble started soon after that with reports getting circulated in Bangladeshi social media that the man is an Indian spy in the garb of a mentally challenged person.
Authorities took notice and the HAMs from Bangladesh provided all assistance to establish that he was not associated with espionage in any way.
The process took nearly four months and he was finally exonerated of the charges.
“It was clear that he is an Indian, but he could not provide any details about his family. We got his photographs and details circulated all across the country. Finally, a family in West Bengal’s Malda identified him,” Ambarish Nag Biswas, WBRC Secretary, said.
A youth from Chanchal in Malda, named Bikram Rishi got in touch with the organisation and said that the man was his uncle.
The elderly man has been identified as Tinkari Rishi.
According to Bikram, his uncle suffered from sort of mental disease and disappeared from their house in Ghoshpara nearly five years ago.
Despite all efforts, he could not be traced.
Bikram also provided photocopies of the man’s Aadhaar Card and Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) that have been forwarded to authorities in Bangladesh for scrutiny.
“He is now being taken care of Jainul Abedin, an amateur radio operator from Bangladesh. Tinkari now stays at the Pirgacha railway station in Rangpur and receives food and other supplies. We have approached the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata to make arrangements for his expatriation. We hope he will be reunited with his family soon,” Nag Biswas said.
A source in the Deputy High Commission confirmed that they have received the request and visited Dhaka for processing.
