India has deported one of Bangladesh’s most wanted criminals and the prime accused in the sensational 2014 Narayanganj murder case, Nur Hossain, two days after Dhaka handed over top Ulfa leader Anup Chetia to New Delhi.
Border Security Force (BSF) handed over Hossain to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at the western Benapole frontiers in Jessore late on Thursday night, hours after he was freed from a Kolkata jail on a court order for his deportation, officials said.
“BGB’s Major Liakat received him (Hossain) on the other side of the zero lines of the border... He was then handed over to RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) officials who escorted him to Dhaka by road,” a home ministry spokesperson told PTI.
TV footage showed the fugitive being driven in an RAB microbus to Dhaka while it was escorted by security forces.But some reports said a police squad of suburban port town of Narayanganj, the scene of the murders, took charge of Hossain early morning as the convoy reached the RAB headquarters in Uttara area in the capital.
“He is now in our custody (in Narayanganj) and we will produce him before the court later on Friday accomplishing some procedural formalities and interrogation,” a police officer told PTI by phone from Narayanganj.
West Bengal police arrested Hossain, a city councillor, soon after he fled Bangladesh in June last year.He was found guilty of masterminding the murders of seven people, including a fellow councilor and a lawyer, in the port town in April last year.
The incident had sparked a massive outcry in Bangladesh as the families of the victims alleged several Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel were involved in the murders.
Hossain’s deportation came a day after Ulfa leader Chetia was handed over to India by Bangladesh.Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday told PTI that the deportation was a reflection of excellent ties between the two countries and Dhaka was ready to cooperate with India in mutual interest in future as well.
