Bhakti Dhali with her family PETRAPOLE: Bhakti Dhali, a resident of Bharatkathi village in Bangladesh's Pirojpur located about 180 km from the Petrapole border, had not slept at night since Aug 3. She and her husband Parimal were awake till 4 am even on Friday, waiting for dawn. They had been pinning hopes on a medical visa that they had prepared on an earlier visit to India barely weeks ago to cross the border on Friday.
Like Dhali, Partha Das from Pirojpur and Mahima Akhter from Jessore also took help of their medical visas to come across the border. For some Indians, like Supti Modak of Ranaghat and Beauty Rani Biswas of Nabadwip, who were stuck at Shariatpur close to Dhaka and Sirajganj - and witnessed the violence at close quarters - the traumatic experience of the past five days lingered even after they reached the Indian soil at Petropole on Friday. Dhali said, "It was a nightmare on the night of Aug 3.
A large mob surrounded our neighbourhood, all of us being members of Awami League. The moment I saw them, my daughter and I ran out to a garden and finally to a jute field next to our residence. The mob demanded Rs 12,000 from the Awami League 's gram panchayat, our kin.
They gave her five minutes and she managed to arrange Rs 4,500. The mob then went on a rampage - my family members were abused and the rooms ransacked. They even uprooted the basins, commodes and bathroom fittings.
" The mob returned the next night, she said. But this time, her neighbours and even the co.