Absconding councilor Nur Hossain, who is the prime accused in Narayanganj seven-murder case, was arrested by Kolkata police under Arms Act and Foreigners Act for illegal trespass into Indian territory without valid travel document and for illegal possession of a weapon on Saturday night.Intelligence sources said, Nur Hossain and two of his accomplices — Zahidul Zaman and Selim Bidhan — were arrested around 10:00 on Saturday night from Indraprastha apartment complex at Baguiati near Dum Dum International Airport. A day into their arrests, an Indian court on Sunday granted Nur Hossain and two of his associates an eight-day remand as the Paschimbanga police sought 14-day remand after producing them before the court in the afternoon.S. Eddwin Lepcha, second judicial magistrate in North 24 Pargana district court at Basarat, came up with remand order about 1:00 pm (BST). Earlier, police filed a case against Nur and two of his accomplices with Baguiati Police Station on charge of infiltration, gambling and possessing firearms. Law enforcers also recovered a firearm, several mobile SIM cards, and a laptop during the raid.Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that the government had started the process to bring back Nur Hossain from Kolkata as soon as possible.Although he did not provide immediate details of the process, it is evident that the government would have to put forward a formal request for extradition to Bangladesh from India.Asked whether Bangladesh will have to face any complexity in the whole process, the state minister expressed his hope that the government will be able to return Nur Hossain without any difficulties as there is an extradition treaty with India. In the previous years, some criminals have been exchanged between the two countries, he said, adding that it may take some time. Bangladesh had sought the help of the Interpol on May 22 to nab Nur Hossain. It had also informed India to check out reports that Nur had slipped into Kolkata. According to a senior official of its Intelligence Branch in Paschimbanga, the identity of Nur Hossain is almost confirmed.”The man we arrested from Baguihati matches the description of fugitive Nur Hossain,” the official, alluding to the details of the absconding Narayanganj councillor handed over by Interpol to police in West Bengal.Meanwhile, West Bengal police started checking the details of calls made from mobile phones by Nur Hossain during his stay in Kolkata as an absconder. He said the West Bengal Intelligence Bureau has started checking the call records of SIMs found on two mobile phones found on Nur Hossain during his arrest late on Saturday.”That will help us establish the duration of his stay in Kolkata and also the people he called here in West Bengal and back in Bangladesh. That will not only gives us a clear idea of people here who help Bangladesh’s fugitive criminals find safe shelter but also help us establish whether he is indeed the Nur Hossain wanted for murders back in Bangladesh,” said the official.Family members of the seven-murder victims and lawyers here on Sunday demanded that prime accused Nur Hossain and his aides immediately be brought back home from India.Following the arrest of Nur Hossain in Kolkata, the family members of the slain Narayanganj city panel mayor Nazrul Islam and six others formed a human chain on Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Sanarpar in the morning to press home their demand.Besides, Narayanganj Bar Association brought out a procession on the court premises on the same demand.The lawyers gave a three-day ultimatum to the government to produce Nur Hossain before a local court in the sensational seven-murder case. Nur Hossain has been made prime accused in the case filed by Nazrul’s wife Selina Islam in connection with the abduction and killing.On April 27, Nazrul Islam and his three associates and driver were abducted from Fatullah area in Narayanganj city. Senior lawyer of the Narayanganj District Judge’s Court, Chandan Kumar Sarker, and his driver were also abducted on their way to capital Dhaka the same day. Three days into their abduction, the bodies of six people, including that of Nazrul and Chandan, were recovered from the Shitalakhya and Dhaleshwari rivers on April 30. Besides, the body of Jahangir, the car driver of Nazrul Islam, was recovered from the Shitalakhya River on May 1. Assassinated councillor Nazrul’s relatives also alleged that the RAB officers carried out the murders at the behest of Nur Hossain and then helped Nur Hossain escape to India.Three officers of RAB-11, including its commander ex-Lt Col Tarek Sayeed Mohammad, were removed from the elite force even before the bodies were found.They were eventually sent on forced retirement after being accused of carrying out the murders.The three RAB officers have now been arrested after a High Court order for their arrest.
