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Indian BSF abducts seven BD fishermen

DHAKA: Bangladesh has taken steps to free seven fishermen which officials here said on Thursday were abducted by Indian border forces from a common river in the southwestern Shatkhira frontier district.

Paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border guards said the seven were kidnapped from the midstream of the Ichamati river on Tuesday.

"We have sent protests to the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) and demanded their immediate release, but so far there is no response," a BDR official in Dhaka told AFP.

He, however, added that BDR was hoping a "flag meeting" with BSF would be held later Thursday to negotiate the release of the fishermen.

Skirmishes between the two border forces and incidents of abduction in the past have often strained relations between the two South Asian neighbours, but Tuesday's abduction was the first major incident in the new year.

Outside the Bay of Bengal in the south, Bangladesh and India share common borders on three sides. AFP