The West Bengal Police’s Special Task Force arrested a Bangladeshi national on Saturday who allegedly helped the two suspected killers of Bangladeshi youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi sneak into India across the international border in Meghalaya after committing the crime. The arrested man has been identified as Philip Sangma, who was tracked down from the Shantipur Bypass area in Nadia district of West Bengal.
The arrest follows the STF’s detention a week ago of two prime suspects in Hadi’s murder, Faisal Karim Masud, 37, alias Rahul, a resident of Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and Alamgir Hossain, 34, from Dhaka, who were apprehended from Bongaon in the North 24 Parganas district.
How Sangma Was Traced
During interrogation, Masud and Hossain told investigators that a person named Philip Sangma had helped them cross the international border in Meghalaya after the killing. Acting on this information, the STF located and arrested Sangma on Saturday morning. Preliminary interrogation revealed that Sangma is also a Bangladeshi national who allegedly runs a paid border-crossing facilitation operation between Haluaghat in Bangladesh and Dalupara in Meghalaya.
Police said Sangma admitted to helping Masud and Hossain enter India following the murder. Investigators said Sangma himself later crossed into India to evade arrest in Bangladesh and moved around several locations in the country while remaining in contact with the two accused. He was reportedly trying to return to Bangladesh when the STF caught up with him. He was produced before a court on Sunday, which remanded him to police custody for further interrogation.
Who Was Sharif Osman Hadi?
Hadi, 32, was the spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho, a youth political organisation in Bangladesh. He was shot in the head in Dhaka on December 12 last year. He was flown to Singapore for treatment, but died on December 18. His killing triggered significant political unrest in Bangladesh ahead of the general elections held on February 12, in which the Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies swept to power, winning 216 of the 297 seats.
