Edwin Lepcha, second judicial magistrate in North 24 Parganas district court at Barasat, has sent Nur Hossain to eight days in police remand.
The absconding Narayanganj councillor, prime accused in the multiple murder case, has been booked under Arms Act and Foreigners Act for illegal trespass into Indian territory without valid travel document and for illegal possession of a weapon.
He was produced in the district court in Barasat by West Bengal police at 1.45 pm local time on Sunday.
Magistrate Lepcha observed that there is a prima facie case against Nur Hossain on the charges registered by police.
So the remand request of the police to facilitate interrogation was allowed.
Earlier in the day, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said Bangladesh had begun the process to bring back Nur Hossain.
But he did not provide immediate details of the process, though it is evident, Bangladesh would have to put in a formal request for extradition to India.
Both countries now have an extradition treaty to facilitation repatriation of criminals and terrorists wanted in the other country.
Bangladesh had sought the help of the Interpol on May 22 to nab Nur Hossain, but it had also informed India to check out reports that Hossain had slipped into Kolkata.
Nur Hossain, a councillor in Narayanganj City, was arrested by a team from the Special Task Force of the West Bengal police from Baguiati, not far from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, late on Saturday night.
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.
A senior official of its Intelligence Branch told bdnews24.com that Hossain’s identity is confirmed.
“The man we arrested from Baguihati last night 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.
He said the West Bengal IB 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,” the official said.
The official said West Bengal police was keen to explore the support networks fuelling trans-border crime.
“So would be great if we know who helped Nur Hossain stay safe so long in Kolkata.”
Hossain is believed to be the mastermind of the Narayanganj multiple murders , for which some RAB officers are now on the dock.
Assassinated councillor Nazrul’s relatives allege that the RAB officers carried out the murders at the behest of Nur Hossain and then helped Nur Hossain escape to India.
But the RAB has denied the charge.
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 RAB ordered an internal probe to check on allegations that the three officers carried out the murders.
The three RAB officers have now been arrested after a High Court order for their arrest.
Nur Hossain, who rose from being a transport worker to a city councillor, had set up a booming illegal sand trade on the banks of Sitalakhyya.
He was not found in Narayanganj after seven dead bodies, including those of city councillor Nazrul Islam and lawyer Chandan Sarkar, were fished out of the Sitalakhyya river.
Nazrul Islam, also an Awami League leader like Nur Hossain, was his arch-rival in Narayanganj.
Source: UNBConnnect
