Kolkata, 15 Mar

The West Bengal Police's STF arrested a Bangladeshi for allegedly helping the suspected killers of Sharif Osman Hadi, a youth leader from the neighbouring country, flee to India after committing the crime, an officer said on Sunday.

The arrest comes a week after the Special Task Force (STF) apprehended two suspects wanted in connection with Hadi's murder from Bongaon in the North 24 Parganas district.

The accused were identified as Faisal Karim Masud (37), alias Rahul, a resident of Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and Alamgir Hossain (34) from Dhaka.

During interrogation, the two men told investigators that a person named Philip Sangma had helped them cross the international border in Meghalaya, the police officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, the STF tracked down Sangma and arrested him on Saturday morning from the Shantipur Bypass area in West Bengal's Nadia district, the officer added.

A preliminary interrogation revealed that Sangma, also a Bangladesh national, who allegedly facilitates infiltration through the border in Haluaghat (Bangladesh) and Dalupara (Meghalaya) areas in exchange for money, another officer said.

According to the police, Sangma admitted to helping Masud and Hossain enter India after the murder.

Investigators said Sangma later entered India to evade arrest in Bangladesh and moved across several locations in the country.

"He remained in contact with the two accused and was trying to return to Bangladesh when he was apprehended," the officer added.

Sangma was produced before a court on Sunday, which remanded him to police custody.

Hadi, 32, spokesperson for the Inqilab Moncho, was shot in the head in Dhaka on 12 December last year. He was flown to Singapore for treatment, but died on 18 December.

His death sparked political unrest in Bangladesh, where general elections were held on 12 February.

The Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), along with its allies, swept the polls, winning 216 of the 297 seats to form the government.