The fate of more than 200 people at the centre of a tense border stand-off between Bangladesh and India remains unclear.

Both countries, who dispute the group's nationality, say they have gone home, but their whereabouts are not known.

India's Border Security Force (BSF) say all 213 people concerned have returned to Bangladesh - where officials say they came from.

But Bangladesh says the Bengali-speaking Muslims, most of them snake charmers and their families, are now in India where they belong.

Reports from the border say the group was last seen before midnight when it was extremely foggy.

They appear to have made a hasty exit, leaving behind pots, clothing and other possessions.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamsher M Chowdhury told reporters in Dhaka the government had "no evidence or information" the group had entered Bangladesh.

A spokesman for the Bangladesh Border Rifles (BDR) said the BSF had taken the people back from the no-man's land near Lalmonirhat where they have been camped for the last six days.

Earlier, Indian officials said the stranded group had been allowed to cross back into Bangladesh by border police late on Wednesday.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan has been invited to Delhi to discuss alleged illegal immigration by people from his country into India.

He described a late-night phone call from his opposite number, Yashwant Sinha, as a very positive development.

Identity crisis

The border crisis has led to increasingly bitter exchanges of rhetoric between Delhi and Dhaka for the last few days.

Fears had grown for the health of those trapped in no-man's land

Both countries placed their troops on high alert.

Correspondents say additional troops deployed on the border are now being pulled back.

Both countries accused each other of trying to force the people at the centre of the row over their respective frontier.

While Delhi said they were Bangladeshis, Dhaka argued they were Indian Muslims.

Fears had grown for the health of those trapped.

All they had to protect them from the cold and wet were makeshift tents, in which they have been living since the row erupted at the weekend.

Last month India announced it would take action to deport millions of Bangladeshis who it said were illegal immigrants.

On Wednesday, Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani called on Bangladesh to take back "illegal immigrants" from India.

Dhaka says Delhi is in breach of international law and has wrongly identified those trapped in no-man's land as illegal immigrants.

Dispute

Delhi says the two countries have an agreement that, if people are detained while crossing the border on both sides, the country to which they belong should immediately accept them.

Bangladesh says in the past month, India has tried to force more than 2,000 Bengali-speakers across the border and that the overwhelming majority of them are Muslims from the Indian state of West Bengal.

But an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said they had documentary evidence the disputed people were Bangladeshi citizens.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have historically been good, but they worsened recently after Delhi ordered a crackdown on Bangladeshi immigrants.

India says up to 20 million Bangladeshis are in the country illegally. Dhaka says there are no Bangladeshis living illegally in India.