The move to bring back criminals hiding in India on mutual understanding is facing a setback due to dual citizenship of many of the criminals.
One of the two criminals arrested by Indian police moved to a court recently claiming himself as an Indian national, and innocent, hindering the process.
Indian police are trying to resolve the problem legally and asked Bangladesh police to provide them with necessary documents and evidence about some top listed criminals hiding in India over the years.
In response to this, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has already sent bits of evidence and documents about 10 such criminals.
“We expect that the problem will be resolved in a couple of days as Indian authorities are bent on helping us, and we also hope to get two top listed criminals back by October 25 or 26,” said Abdullah Aref, additional superintendent of the CID.
“Bringing back criminals is a historic incident as both the countries are doing the job without having any extradition threaty,” Aref told The Daily Star yesterday.
“We are in contact with high police officials in India and they are in favour of sending the criminals back,” he added.
The CID has also sent to Indian authorities a list containing names and photographs of 23 top listed criminals for whose arrest the government had announced bounty on December 27, 2001.
Arrestee criminal Tanvirul Islam Joy, who moved to an Indian court, claimed that he is being wrongly identified by law enforcers and that he is an Indian national, CID sources in Dhaka said.
Indian police are trying to prove before the court that the person is a dreaded fugitive criminal, and he was involved in criminal activities in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh CID is also sending to Indian police newspaper reports and photographs of some top criminals regarding their involvement in various crimes.
Different newspapers reported that Joy and another listed criminal Harris Ahmed alias Harris will be brought back this month in the first phase of bringing back eight such criminals arrested in India recently.
Ten listed criminals about whom the CID sent information and documents are Joy, Piyal, Subrata Bain, Molla Masud, Shadat Hossain, Khorshed, Shahid, Jissan, Monir and Emon.
The CID also has information that besides the listed ones, around 600/700 criminals or offenders are staying in India now.
It is extracting information about criminals staying in India by interrogating listed criminal Habibur Rahman Taj and two of his accomplices --Sohel alias Ibrahim and Biplob Rahman alias Lambu Selim. They were sent back from India on October 7.
During quizzing, they gave important information regarding where these criminals preferred to hide in India, their way of living and contact among them. A CID team led by Aref has quizzed these criminals for a week and is likely to seek further remand for them.
FUGITIVE CRIMINALS IN FOREIGN DEN
Earlier in May this year, Calcutta police arrested Joy from a luxurious apartment in Rajarhat and seized two passports-- one Bangladeshi and the other Indian---from his possession. Joy moved to India after staying in Malaysia for one and a half years.
He had fled the country for Malaysia following the government announcement on December 27, 2001 offering bounty for information leading to arrest of 23 top listed criminals. Even after the announcement, they remained out of the law enforcers' reach for quite some time as many of the political leaders provided them shelter.
Joy was involved in air ticketing business in India for five years and bought the luxurious flat two years back at Tk 2.5 crore. Joy was familiar to the local people in India as Tareq Rana.
During the CID interrogation, the three criminals brought back from India said criminals began fleeing to India when 'crossfire' deaths started taking place. A total of 373 criminals who used to live in and around the capital are now staying in West Bengal state in India.
Taj told investigators that most of the criminals who fled to India are now staying in different areas of Kolkata including New Market area, Free School Street, Khidirpur, Dumdum, Sealdah and Bongaon and in Nadia, Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal.
According to newspaper reports, before arrest Subrata Bain was living in a room in a cancer hospital in West Bengal. Local people knew him as Fateh Ali. He used to move in the area in his own car.
Molla Masud was staying in Nadia before his arrest. He had poultry and fishery business there. Harris was also arrested in Nadia.
Besides, Shahadat Hossain was arrested in Agartola while Jissan from Gariahata and Dakat Shahid from 24 Parganas.
Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police in the last few years arrested eight of the listed criminals. They are Kamal Pasa, Khorshed Alam Babu alias Freedom Rasu, Khandaker Naim Ahmed Titon, Freedom Sohel, Killer Abbas, Moshiur Rahman Kachi, Liakat Hossain, and Arman.
Another listed criminal was killed in 'crossfire' during an encounter with Rab.