Benapole, Sept. 16 -- Eighteen Bangladeshi women, men and children returned home through Benapole on Wednesday after serving jail terms in India.

Indian Petrapole immigration police handed them over to Bangladeshi authorities at around 5pm under special travel permits.

The returnees include six men, nine women and three children from Jashore, Khulna, Panchagarh, Satkhira, Thakurgaon, Gopalganj, Barishal, Narsingdi, Chattogram, Dinajpur and Lalmonirhat.

Benapole Immigration Police Officer-in-Charge Saifur Rahman said they had illegally crossed into India at different times after being lured by brokers with promises of jobs.

They were arrested while working in households and farms in Kolkata and later sentenced to jail terms ranging fro...