Kolkata: With Bangladesh handing over outlawed ULFA’s leader Anup Chetia, India on Thursday returned the favour by releasing from its prison Bangladeshi national Nur Hossain, wanted for seven murder cases in his country. He would be extradited to Bangladesh on Friday, a Border Security Force officer said.
“Nur Hossain will be formally handed over to Bangladesh tomorrow (Friday). There will be a flag meeting, following which Bangladeshi officials will take over his custody,” the officer told IANS.
As per rules, the BSF will hand him over to its Bangladeshi counterpart — Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Hossain, along with 34 others, has been indicted by Bangladesh police for the sensational Narayanganj murder case in 2014 in which seven people, including Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Nazrul Islam, were killed and their bodies dumped in a river.
Earlier in October, a West Bengal court had ordered the repatriation of Hossain, who was caught by the state police in June 2014 for illegally entering India.
A top police officer earlier told IANS that the documents for Hossain’s extradition had been sent to the central government.
“We have sent the documents for his extradition to the central government which will decide the date of his extradition. The formalities are nearly complete and as and when the centre decides the date, we will act accordingly,” the officer said.
So long lodged in a Dum Dum correctional home, the charges pressed by the state police against Hossain were withdrawn by the court.
Informing that Hossain will be extradited at the earliest, Bangladesh’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal described the extraditions of Chetia and Hossain as a reflection of the highly cordial mutual ties between the two countries.
“Bangladesh and India have always shared very cordial relations. The Indian government’s keenness on sending back Hossain is just a reflection of that relationship. We have been told that Hossain will be extradited very soon,” Kamal told IANS over phone from Dhaka.
According to a top Bengal jail officer, the Bangladesh government had been seeking Hossain’s extradition for quite some time.
“The Narayanganj murder case has been a big political issue in Bangladesh and they have been making efforts to get him back for almost a year now. With the extradition of Chetia, the ball for Hossain’s extradition has now been set in motion, and according to information, he is likely to be handed back in December,” the officer told IANS.