The Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police on Sunday said it has arrested a Bangladeshi national on charges of helping the alleged killers of Bangladeshi youth leader Sharif Usman Hadi to enter India after committing the crime.
A week ago, SFs arrested two suspects wanted for Hadi’s murder from Bongaon in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The two have been identified as Faisal Karim Masood (37), alias Rahul, a resident of Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and Alamgir Hossain (34), a resident of Dhaka.
“During interrogation, Masood and Hussain named a person named Philip Sangma who helped them cross into India via Meghalaya. Later, Philip himself entered India illegally. Sangma was arrested on Saturday morning from Shantipur Bypass (in Nadia district),” an officer said.
Sangma, a resident of Bangladesh, told the police during initial interrogation that he works as a border trader and facilitates illegal migrants to cross the border through the Halwaghat (Bangladesh)-Dalupara (Meghalaya) border area in exchange for money. He also admitted that he facilitated the entry of the accused in the Hadi Faisal and Alamgir murder case into India.
Another official said: “Later he entered India to avoid arrest in Bangladesh. He stayed at different places after entering India. He was in touch with Masood and Hussain and was trying to return to Bangladesh.”
Sangma was produced in court today. The court referred him to police custody.
Hadi, 32, spokesman for Monchu’s coup, was shot in the head on December 12 in Dhaka. He was flown to Singapore for treatment. His death on December 18 sparked political unrest in Bangladesh that later led to general elections on February 12.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tariq Rahman swept the polls along with its allies to form the government after 20 years by winning 216 of the 297 seats.
