Dhaka, May 12 -- 78 Bengali-speaking people who were forced across the India-Bangladesh border by India's Border Security Force (BSF) and abandoned on a shoal in Satkhira say they endured "inhumane treatment" before being released near the western edge of the Sundarbans.

The group, many of whom had journeyed to Gujarat from Bangladesh at various times seeking work, report that they were detained by local police on April 26. They allege they were beaten and subjected to cruel mistreatment during their four-day captivity.

On May 9, after being blindfolded and transported-first flown to Kolkata and then taken by ship-they were deposited on the isolated Mandarbaria shoal in the Bay of Bengal. The Forest Department later discovered them, and...