Noor Hussain, his 15-year-old brother Noor Mohammed, Mohammed Kadir and his teenager nephew Kasim, all hailing from Cox Bazar in Bangladesh, were caught from the Hajipir shrine, on the edge of the Rann of Kutch, in 1998 and brought to the JIC for interrogation.

When no evidence was found against them, the Kutch police approached the Centre, through the State Government, for their deportation. But, sources say, the Centre has neither sanctioned their deportation nor sent any reply in spite of quite a few reminders.

Officials says the continued detention of the Bangladeshis had made them depressed and homesick and they often talked of committing suicide. JIC authorities are worried because earlier two desperate Iraqis had made an attempt to end their lives.

The four had crossed over to India from Bangladesh, and then travelled to Ajmer via Delhi, before coming to Bhuj. Initially, they were taken to be Myanmarese nationals, but that impression was corrected after their interrogation and the Indian Government informed accordingly.

Although the Bangladeshis can be tried for illegally entering India, not even an FIR has been filed. Therefore, their detention was illegal, sources said, adding that the only option before the government was to send them back to their country.