Air India's special flight evacuates 205 people from Dhaka

New Delhi: On Wednesday morning, a special Air India flight arrived in New Delhi from Dhaka with 205 passengers, including six infants, according to an official. The flight, which used an A321 neo aircraft, took off from Dhaka late Tuesday night.

The chartered flight brought back 199 adults and six infants. Despite facing challenges at the Dhaka airport, Air India managed to operate the flight on very short notice. The plane had initially departed from New Delhi without passengers.

Air India is set to resume its regular flights to Dhaka, with two daily services starting on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Air India cancelled its morning flight to Dhaka but ran the evening flight as scheduled.

Vistara and IndiGo will also continue their flights to Dhaka as planned. Vistara operates daily flights from Mumbai and three weekly flights from Delhi to Dhaka. IndiGo typically runs one daily flight from Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai to Dhaka, and two daily flights from Kolkata. Both airlines had cancelled their flights to Dhaka on Tuesday.

One of the passengers on the AI flight which reached Delhi, an Indian national, said that the situation in Bangladesh is "pretty much under control now."

"From tomorrow, everything is going to be working completely. Factories, offices, banks, colleges, schools. Everything's going to be okay," he said.

Asked whether he departed in a situation of panic, Arpit said, "No, no, no. It was all okay. Though the airlines have also been opened up. And I came to see my family, just the family was worried."

On reports of people of a community being targeted, he said, "For Indians, it is not like that. Everything is fine. It's completely fine."

Asked about the situation in Bangladesh, following weeks of violence that led to Sheikh Hasina tendering her resignation and left the country to arrive in Delhi, he said, "Everything is okay now, even on the roads, and highways, everything is completely fine."

Arpit also mentioned that people are happy that Sheikh Hasina have left the country. "However, smart people have said that it is a mistake and they will later realise it, said Arpit stating that he would return to Bangladesh after two to three days.

On being asked about people's reactions to Sheikh Hasina's resignation, Arpit said, "People were really happy. But, on the other hand, the smart people who have been politically connected, they say that they have made a mistake. Later on , they're going to realise it."

Another passenger on the plane from Bangladesh that landed in Delhi said that the situation in the country "normal".

The passenger said, "I have come to India for treatment."

Another passenger from Bangladesh, Souradip Roy said, "Now everything is fine there, there is no problem. A lot of massacres happened over there and many students were killed. Officially they say over 200 students were killed, however, unofficially it is more than 1000 students were killed." He said that he is on a visit to India.

Another passenger from Bangladesh's Sylhet, Tanveer, said that the situation in Bangladesh is "not so good, not so bad."

"Situation is not so good, not so bad. The interim government has taken the control of the country and we don't know what comes next. But, we hope for a better outcome."

"On the 18th of July, I saw it was like war zone in Bangladesh, near my office in Uttara. And after that there was a curfew and there were army and people getting killed in front of my eyes. I even got a rubber bullet on my that hit me. I even got police that had beaten me for coming out," he added.

The protests began over the reintroduction of a quota scheme, scaled back by Bangladesh's top court, that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups. This move disappointed graduates who are facing an acute unemployment crisis, with some 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures.

More than 100 people have lost their lives in Bangladesh amidst widespread violence following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation and departure from the country on Monday. Following news of Hasina's departure, hundreds of people stormed her residence, Sudha Sadan, ransacking and looting the premises, highlighting the intensity of anti-government protests. Similar attacks were reported on residences and offices belonging to ministers, MPs, and leaders of the Awami League government in Dhaka and other areas.

Following the dramatic resignation and flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amidst escalating anti-government protests that have claimed over 300 lives, the leaders of Students Against Discrimination have called for Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to be appointed as chief adviser to Bangladesh's interim government.

Agencies