This warning did not deter the refugees and many families went to the Sundarbans, especially those who were originally from the nearby district of Khulna in Bangladesh, and who already had relatives living from before in clearings in the forest.
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It is mostly remembered today for the incident in 1979 when the newly elected Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) government of West Bengal forcibly evicted thousands of Bengali refugees who had settled on the island.