"We have asked for help and cooperation from the Bangladesh side in retrieving bodies that may have been washed downstream. They have assured us of all help," Dhubri District Commissioner Kumud Chandra Kalita told PTI.
The death toll in the ferry mishap has climbed to 108 with the recovery of five bodies while the fate of 250 others who were on the double decker ferry is not known. Kalita was speaking after a flag meeting at Sonarhat on the Indo-Bangla border between the Border Security Force and the Border Guards Bangladesh in which senior district and police officers from Dhubri and Kurigram district of Bangladesh participated.
Both sides jointly identified two villages in Kurigram district, Dahikhawa and Yatrapur, where bodies could be washed ashore in view of the strong current of the Brahmaputra, Kalita said. "BGB and Kurigram district officials said that so far not a single body has been recovered from their side. People in Kurigram district have been told by the Bangladeshi authorities to contact them in case of any sighting," he said.
The flag-meeting was attended by BSF DIG (Dhubri Sector) Mohan Lal and Dhubri Superintendent of Police Pradip Saloi. The Bangladeshi side was represented by BGB Sector Commandant Mohammad Khalid, Kurigram DC Habibur Rahman and Kurigram SP Mohammad Mahbibur Rahman.