All the 95 Indian fishermen, mostly from South 24-Parganas, arrested and imprisoned in Bangladesh for crossing the maritime boundary in six trawlers in October are awaiting repatriation to India as the neighbouring country has recently revoked the cases against them.

A source said the decision was the result of discussions between top officials of the two countries in which the Indian government agreed to hand over around 90 Bangladeshi fishermen imprisoned here on charges of entering Indian waters.

Amid growing differences between the two countries, this gesture of goodwill sends a positive message to the fishing community.

In an order issued on December 26, a deputy secretary of Bangladesh's home ministry informed of the government's decision to revoke all cases against the 95 fishermen and agreed to release the six trawlers on which they were aboard when crossing the international maritime boundary line.

"We have received the order issued by the Bangladesh government, which has endorsed the withdrawal of all criminal cases against our fishermen and instructed their repatriation to India. It is a great relief for us, as these poor fishermen have been in a Bangladesh jail since early October," said

Satinath Patra, secretary of the Sunderbans Samudrik Matshyajibi Shramik Union, an association of fishermen in South 24-Parganas.

A team of representatives from the association will travel to Bangladesh on Tuesday to complete the legal formalities for repatriating their colleagues.

"The government will release the detained trawlers as well. We hope they will return home in the New Year," Patra added.

In early October, 64 fishermen on four trawlers were detained in the Bagerhat district, and later, 31 others on two trawlers were arrested in the jurisdiction of Patuakhali district in Bangladesh. Since their arrests, all of them have been imprisoned in Bangladesh jails.

As soon as the Bangladesh government began the process of repatriating the detained fishermen, the Indian government also initiated the process to push back those Bangladeshis arrested by the Indian Coast Guard on similar charges.

The 78 Bangladeshi fishermen were arrested by the Indian Coast Guard for entering Indian waters near Odisha's Paradip on December 9. Earlier, 12 Bangladeshi fishermen were detained in Bengal's Sundarbans.

"The 12 fishermen have already been released from jail and are now in the safe custody of the administration in Kakdwip. The repatriation process will begin as soon as we receive the order," said a senior police officer in Sunderbans.

A source in the Indian Coast Guard said they expected an exchange programme in the Bay of Bengal, where the Indian and Bangladeshi fishermen will be repatriated to their respective countries along with their seized trawlers.

"The date is yet to be fixed, but it will happen soon," the source said.

As the Bangladesh government charged these fishermen with severe criminal cases and imprisoned them for what appeared to be a long period, the fishing community in Bengal claimed the new regime in Bangladesh was harsher toward the poor community. Crossing the maritime boundary had been routine for fishermen from both countries.

According to fishermen's outfits, the coastal administration under the Sheikh Hasina regime had been lenient towards Bengal's fishermen, usually pushing them back if they "inadvertently" crossed the international maritime boundary, especially while seeking a hilsa catch.

Many fishing boats from Bangladesh also reportedly entered Indian waters regularly to catch different varieties of fish.