With Bangladesh handing over the outlawed ULFA's fugitive leader Anup Chetia, India is all set to return the favour with the extradition of Nur Hossain - wanted for seven murder cases in his country.
Hossain, along with 34 others, has been indicted by the 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 the country.
"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," a top police officer told IANS.
Currently lodged in Dum Dum correctional home, the charges pressed by the state police against Hossain were withdrawn by the court.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 Minister State for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal described the extraditions of Chetia and Hossain as a reflection of the highly cordial mutual ties of the two countries.
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"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 state jail officer, 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 extradition has now been set in motion and according to information, his is likely to be handed back in December," the officer told IANS.
Once the central government fixes the date of extradition, the police will hand over Hossain to the Border Security Force (BSF) who in turn will hand him over to its Bangladeshi counterpart- Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
"We have been informed about Hossain's extradition process but we are yet to be intimated about the date. Once the government fixes the date, a flag meeting will be organised and we will hand him over to the BGB," said a BSF officer.
(Anurag Dey can be contacted at anurag.d@ians.in)
