Bangladeshi national feared dead returns home after 23 years, "the last 15 of which were in a Pakistani jail."

• Family were stunned to see their relative return to the village in Bangladesh
• He was was helped by the Red Cross after they discovered he had been in captivity

By KERRY MCQUEENEY
DAILYMAIL
August 1, 2012

Finally home: Moslemuddin Sarkar
has made it back to his home village
in Bangladesh after 23 years

A man who was given up for dead has returned to his home village in Bangladesh after 23 years - the last 15 of which were spent in Pakistani prison.

Family members who long believed they would never see him again were stunned when Moslemuddin Sarkar returned home for the first time since 1989.

Sarkar was helped home by the International Committee of the Red Cross after he was imprisoned in Pakistan for 15 years.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets of Bishnurampur village, in Bangladesh's northern Mymensingh district, to catch a glimpse of him and congratulate his tearful and jubilant family.

In a telephone interview, Sarkar said he had entered India without valid documents in 1989 without informing his family.

He was then caught as he tried to cross into Pakistan in 1997 where he was jailed for trying to enter the country illegally.

Speaking in a combination of Urdu and Bangali, he added: 'I went to Pakistan believing that I would get a better job there. But they caught me at the border. I was beaten and tortured in prison.

'I wrote dozens of letters to my village address, but did not have any clue that they were never posted. At one stage I lost all hope of returning home.'

He added that he was 'delighted' to see that his mother is still alive...

Emotional reunion: Mr Sarkar, 52, who has been missing since 1989, is hugged by his brother Sekandar Ali (right)

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