Image credit: APA prison official in Bangladesh said on Monday that 152 foreigners, including 148 Indians, were languishing in the country’s jails even though they had completed their jail terms, according to prison statistics published six months ago.The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the identification process alongside bureaucratic or diplomatic inaction prolonged their captivity. He said a large number of the Indian inmates were detained on charges such as illegal cross-border entry.Bdnews24. com on Monday reported that 17 Indians continued to languish in the southwestern Shariatpur District Jail alone. The inmates could not be released as their identities remain unverified, while repeated attempts to contact the Indian embassy yielded no response, the report said.Jailer Papiya Sultana told the outlet that police had detained 20 people at different times near the Padma Bridge, and they were later sent to prison on court orders. “Among them, Indian nationals, identified as Satyendra Kumar and Babul Singh, died in jail on Feb 2, 2024, while another inmate, known only as Rajan, died on May 29, 2025,” she said.Prison officials in Dhaka said apart from India, inmates awaiting repatriation include citizens of Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria.