A total of 190 non-essential staffers and their family members were repatriated from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka onboard a special Air India flight. All diplomats are, however, stationed and the Indian missions in the conflict-torn nation are functional, as per sources.
Around 20-30 senior staffers are currently stationed at the High Commission in Dhaka. Besides the High Commission, India also has assistant high commissions or consulates in Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna, sources added.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that around 10,000 Indians were presently in Bangladesh and the Modi government is in "close and continuous" touch with the community through diplomatic missions.
He also said that the situation in Bangladesh was not that alarming to warrant the evacuation of Indians in the country. Bangladesh is currently in the throes of uncertainty following the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government.
Moreover, he told the Lok Sabha that India is closely monitoring the situation vis-a-vis minorities in Bangladesh. "We are also monitoring the situation with regard to the status of minorities. There are reports of initiatives by various groups and organisations to ensure their protection and well-being. Naturally, we will remain deeply concerned till law and order is restored," Jaishankar said.
Total 29 bodies of Awami League leaders and their family members have been found across the country. Of these, at least 10 people were killed in violence in Satkhira after Hasina's abrupt resignation and subsequent departure on Monday.
In Cumilla, at least 11 people were killed in attacks by mobs. Six people died as mob set the three-storey house of the former councillor Mohammad Shah Alam on fire. Houses and business establishments owned by several Awami League leaders were vandalised and looted, as per Bangladeshi media reports.
Sheikh Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh for more than 15 years with an iron fist, resigned as the Prime Minister after the massive protests that began as an agitation against the controversial jobs quota scheme but snowballed into a movement demanding her ouster from power.
The jobs scheme offered 30 per cent reservation in government jobs to the relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971. She left her official residence in a military chopper and landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-130 military transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force.
The Border Security Force (BSF) issued a high alert along the India-Bangladesh border. The BSF also held meetings with village leaders and military officials in the area to ensure law and order is maintained.