The West Bengal government has taken steps to release foreign prisoners soon who are lodged at different jails in the state for months.

Minister for Correctional Administration Shankar Chakraborty said in Kolkata that the state government has taken up the matter with the Union Home and External Affairs ministries to expedite the repatriation. He said, a large number of Bangladeshis and few Myanmarese and Pakistanis are waiting for their release.

AIR correspondent reports that around 1,500 prisoners mostly from Bangladesh have been repatriated after their release from different correctional homes in the last one year.

Names of another 430 prisoners have been forwarded to the External Affairs Ministry for repatriation to Bangladesh.