The Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police has arrested a Bangladeshi national accused of helping the suspected killers of Bangladeshi youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi escape to India after the crime, officials said on Sunday.
The arrest follows an earlier operation conducted by the STF last week in which two suspects wanted in connection with Hadi’s murder were apprehended from Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district near the India-Bangladesh border.
The two individuals arrested earlier were identified as 37-year-old Faisal Karim Masud, also known as Rahul, a resident of Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and 34-year-old Alamgir Hossain from Dhaka. During questioning, the suspects reportedly told investigators that a man named Philip Sangma had assisted them in crossing the international border into India.
Acting on this information, STF officers launched a search operation and tracked down Sangma. He was arrested on Saturday morning from the Shantipur Bypass area in Nadia district of West Bengal.
According to police officials, preliminary interrogation revealed that Sangma is also a Bangladeshi national who allegedly facilitates illegal crossings along the India-Bangladesh border. Investigators believe he was involved in arranging infiltration routes between the Haluaghat region in Bangladesh and the Dalupara area in Meghalaya, reportedly in exchange for money.
Police said Sangma admitted during questioning that he had helped Masud and Hossain enter India after the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi. Authorities also believe that he later entered India himself in order to avoid being arrested by Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies.
Investigators said Sangma moved across different locations within India after crossing the border and remained in contact with the two accused during this period. Officials added that he was attempting to return to Bangladesh when STF personnel intercepted and arrested him.
Following his arrest, Sangma was produced before a court on Sunday. The court remanded him to police custody so that investigators can continue questioning him about the case and gather more details regarding the alleged cross-border network that helped the suspects flee.
The case is linked to the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, a 32-year-old spokesperson of the political group Inqilab Moncho in Bangladesh. Hadi was shot in the head in Dhaka on December 12 last year in an attack that triggered significant political tension in the country.
After the shooting, he was initially treated in Bangladesh and later flown to Singapore for advanced medical care. Despite medical efforts, he died on December 18 due to the injuries sustained in the attack.
Hadi’s death generated widespread political unrest in Bangladesh in the weeks leading up to the country’s general elections held on February 12. The election ultimately resulted in a major victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman.
The BNP and its allied parties secured 216 out of the 297 parliamentary seats, enabling them to form the government after the polls. Meanwhile, the investigation into Hadi’s killing and the cross-border escape of the accused continues as authorities examine the wider network involved in the case.
