A high-level standoff between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at four points along the India-Bangladesh border in Bengal ended suddenly overnight, with all 40 Bangladeshi nationals stranded at the zero points since Friday missing by Saturday morning.The most tense confrontation took place at Pillar No. 134 at Panishala in Mekhliganj, Cooch Behar, where 10 people were stranded as the BGB refused to accept them, claiming they were being “illegally pushed back” from India.When BSF demanded a flag meeting, BGB refused. After several hours of standoff and a major controversy in the early hours of Saturday, the BGB backed down. BSF said all the stranded people have returned to Bangladesh.Despite the immediate resolution of the standoff, the BGB issued an official statement through its public relations officer Shariful Islam on Saturday, claiming to have foiled eight separate “push-back” attempts by the BSF in the last 24 hours.A similar pattern played out at three other locations – Sitalkuchi and Dinhata in Cooch Behar and Sakti in Jalpaiguri Sadar – where around 30 Bangladeshi nationals, including women and children, remained stranded till Friday before disappearing overnight.In a video that surfaced during the standoff, purportedly showing a conversation between BSF-BGB in front of the trapped persons, a woman is seen saying that she is from Khulna and wants to return to her village. Sources said the BSF used the footage to put pressure on the BGB to accept them back.Among the incidents cited by the BGB in its statement, three persons were stopped at the Jadabpur border near North 24 Parganas and Nadia; 17 were returned to Karamudanga border near South Dinajpur; 21 were blocked at Barkhata and Payashottibari border near Dhubri in Assam; And seven were stopped from crossing at the Dighaltari border near Cooch Behar. “Increased vigilance, intensive patrolling and immediate preventive measures resulted in the foiling of eight separate attempts,” the BGB statement said.The episode unfolds in the backdrop of the new BJP government in West Bengal expediting the identification and deportation of unidentified Bangladeshi nationals.The Center on Friday also asked Dhaka to speed up the verification process of suspected illegal immigrants to facilitate deportation. Since then BSF has increased vigil on the border.