More than three months after her midnight deportation, the question remains unanswered: Where is Mumtaz Begum?
Key Points
- Mumtaz Begum was deported from Assam to Bangladesh on June 14 and remains untraceable three months later.
- Bangladesh authorities launched a search after the Gauhati high court directed efforts to locate and return her.
- The high court found Begum was expelled without proper notice and without a meaningful opportunity to challenge proceedings.
- Begum's citizenship case dates to 1998, with voter lists and other documents cited during court proceedings.
- Bangladesh police have searched Sylhet and adjoining areas, but efforts have so far produced no breakthrough.
The Gauhati high court had directed the ministry of external affairs to locate Mumtaz Begum and facilitate her return; the Bangladesh authorities say they have no information about her whereabouts
Three months after she was deported from Assam to Bangladesh in the middle of the night, 43-year-old Mumtaz Begum remains untraceable, even as Bangladesh authorities have launched a search for her following a directive from the Gauhati high court.
The Bangladesh home ministry has informed the MEA that efforts are under way to locate Begum, who was sent across the international border on the intervening night of June 13 and 14. Officials in Dhaka, however, said they had no information about her whereabouts as of September 28 and were awaiting official communication from India.
The development comes weeks after the Gauhati high court directed the MEA to make efforts to trace Begum in Bangladesh and bring her back to India.
On September 3, a division bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund directed the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh as interim compensation to Begum's husband, Mujammel Hoque.
The court found that Begum had been expelled without her husband or another adult family member being informed of her detention and without being given a meaningful opportunity to challenge the fresh opinion of the Foreigners Tribunal that declared her a foreigner.
The court also directed the authorities to ensure that people declared foreigners are informed of tribunal orders and that adult family members are notified before they are moved outside their district.
A Nearly Three-Decade Citizenship Battle
Begum's citizenship case dates back to 1998, when a police reference was made against her.
The Foreigners Tribunal, 4th Nagaon at Juria, declared her a foreigner in 2019. She challenged the decision before the high court, which in April 2026 set aside the tribunal's opinion, observing that the tribunal had failed to properly consider evidence placed before it.
Among the documents cited in the proceedings were voter-list records of Begum's grandfather from 1965 and 1970, her father's name in the 1977 voters' list, a voter ID, school records, land documents and certificates issued by local authorities. The high court remanded the matter to the tribunal for fresh consideration.
Begum appeared before the tribunal on May 30 along with her lawyer. She was subsequently taken into custody by the police.
According to court records and media reports, she was taken first to Juria and Nagaon police stations, then to the Matia holding centre in Goalpara. She was subsequently shifted more than 400 km away to a holding centre at Eraligool in Sribhumi district.
Her husband approached the authorities to find out where she had been taken. The family said they were not initially informed about her movement or given a copy of the tribunal's fresh opinion.
The certified copy was made available on June 5, but by then Begum had already been shifted from Matia.
Pushed across border in the dead of night
Affidavits submitted before the high court by the police, district administration and BSF subsequently revealed Begum's trail.
She was handed over to the Border Security Force on June 13 and sent across the border into Bangladesh from the Kalaincherra sector in Cachar between about 12.30 am and 2.30 am on June 14, according to the BSF's submission to the court.
Her family only learnt the details of the deportation after approaching the high court.
The court was sharply critical of the manner in which the case was handled, observing that the authorities had acted in tandem in a manner that prevented Begum from exhausting her legal remedy against the tribunal's fresh opinion. It also found an apparent element of 'malice in law' in the delayed issuance of the certified copy.
Bangladesh search yet to yield a lead
Bangladesh's home ministry has now referred the matter to its police and other departments.
The search has particularly focused on Sylhet and adjoining areas, where officials believe Begum could potentially have ended up. An appeal carrying her photograph and identification details, including her Foreigners Identification Portal ID, was published in Bengali newspapers on September 22.
But the search has so far produced no breakthrough.
Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sarwar Murshed Shamim told the media that police had tried to locate Begum within the metropolitan area but had not found her and were continuing their search efforts.
Family fears for her safety
For Begum's family in Nagaon, the uncertainty has deepened their distress.
"We still do not know anything about where she is, or how she is," her son Majidul Islam said, adding that the family has no contacts in Bangladesh who could help them locate her.
The Gauhati high court's September 3 order had sought to address not only Begum's case but also the procedures followed in Assam in dealing with people declared foreigners.
The court directed the MEA to endeavour to locate Begum in Bangladesh and facilitate her return to India, where she would be able to challenge the tribunal's decision.
More than three months after her midnight deportation, however, the central question remains unanswered: Where is Mumtaz Begum?
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
