Non-essential staff and families of diplomats and personnel at the Indian high commission in Dhaka have returned to India, sources said on Wednesday, maintaining that the mission remains operational even as Bangladesh faced massive protests that forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and flee to India.

The non-essential staff and families returned on a “voluntary basis” and “through commercial flight” on Wednesday morning, sources said. The high commission in Dhaka remains operational as do the helplines.

The mission issued an advisory urging Indian community members and students residing in Bangladesh to avoid local travel and minimise their movement outside their
living premises.

The advisory also made it clear that not just the high commission in Dhaka but also the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna remain functional as Indians in Bangladesh have been told that they can reach out to any of the five establishments on the emergency numbers round-the-clock.

Though there is no official figure for the number of Indians still in Bangladesh, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday informed Parliament that an estimated 19,000 Indian nationals are in that country, of which 9,000 are students. The bulk of the students, he added, had returned to India in July on the high commission’s advice.

On the security of India’s diplomatic missions in Bangladesh, Jaishankar had said: “It is our expectation that the host government will provide the required security protection for these establishments.”