A total of 19 Indians, who were stranded in Bangladesh for more than seven months, returned to the country on Monday by road and were admitted to an institutional quarantine centre, officials said.

Officials of the Agartala-Akhaura integrated check-post (ICP) said that the Indians, including women, went to Bangladesh earlier this year and subsequently have been stranded in that country since March.

According to a letter of the Ministry of External Affairs to the Tripura government, 26 Indians were supposed to return to Tripura on Monday, but 19 Indians, including women and children, belonging to the state, entered through the Agartala-Akhaura ICP, adjacent to Agartala city.

"Immediately on their return, all the 19 people were sent to institutional quarantine centres for three days. Their swab samples were collected and the reports would be available after three days. After the Covid-19 sample test report, their home or institutional quarantine would be decided," a Tripura health official said.

Earlier also, several hundred stranded Indians had returned to Tripura and Assam from Bangladesh, of which many had tested positive for Covid-19.

(IANS)