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India-Bangladesh join hands to find graves of freedom fighters

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Press Trust of India Agartala
India and Bangladesh are jointly making efforts to trace the graves of martyrs of the Liberation War of 1971 with over 2,000 freedom fighters buried on this side of the border in Tripura, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya.

Officials here said that four nodal officers from the Indian side were appointed at Agartala, Kolkata, Guwahati and Shillong who would help Bangladeshi officials and their representatives to find the graves.

A Joint Secretary of Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, Bangladesh Lt Col (retd) Sajjad A Zahir told PTI from Dhaka that the graves of the 'muktijodhas' lay in the four Indian states of Tripura, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya.
 

"I have identified 27 spots in India where the warriors of the Liberation War are buried," Zahir said.

He said the final report about the location of graves was given recently to the Bangladesh Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.

He had visited Tripura a year ago and held talks with state government officials for identifying the graves.

Zahir, who was conferred the Bir Protik (equivalent to Vir Chakra) said that according to Bangladeshi estimates, 4000 people had gone missing during the war.

Through his efforts 27 spots were identified in India where the freedom fighters were buried.

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First Published: Aug 07 2013 | 10:32 AM IST

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