Nur Hossain brought back from India

The government last night brought back Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the sensational seven-murder case in Narayanganj, from India.

A team of police took Nur in its custody after the Indian Border Security Force handed him over to the Border Guard Bangladesh at Benapole around 11:30pm, said Superintendent of Police Khandaker Muhit of Narayanganj.

A microbus carrying the police and BGB personnel entered India and drove for about 10 minutes until it met a BSF vehicle, reports our Benapole correspondent.

As soon as the handover was completed there, the microbus drove back into the Bangladesh territory and started for the capital in a convoy of at least 10 cars of security personnel.

Nur Hossain was wearing a bullet proof vest and a helmet when he boarded the Bangladesh police vehicle, according to Apurba Hasan, officer-in-charge of Benapole Police Station.

The deportation took place a day after the Bangladesh government handed over top Ulfa leader Anup Chetia to the Indian authorities. The founding member of one of India's top insurgent groups United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) had been in prison since his arrest in Mohammadpur in December 1997.

Nur is wanted in almost a dozen cases, including the one filed over the killing of seven people -- Narayanganj City Corporation ward councillor Nazrul Islam, his driver and three associates, and senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar and his driver.

The seven were abducted allegedly by some Rapid Action Battalion men from Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road on April 27 last year.

Nur, who too was a ward councillor of Narayanganj city back then, allegedly bribed the Rab men for murdering Nazrul with whom he reportedly had a longstanding political feud. Lawyer Chandan and his driver were killed as they happened to witness the Rab men abducting Nazrul and his associates.

The murder outraged the nation with Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam alleging that the Rab men had taken Tk 6 crore from Nur to kill Nazrul.

Three Rab officials -- Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana -- were sacked for allegedly executing the killings in exchange for money.

Immediately after the murders, Nur fled to India. However, he was arrested in Kolkata in June and charged with trespass and possession of an illegal firearm.

A West Bengal court on October 16 ordered that Nur Hossain be deported to face trial in Bangladesh.

Sandipan Chakraborty, additional chief judicial magistrate of Barasat in North Chobbish Parganas, asked the authorities concerned to comply with its order by December 16.

Meanwhile, nearly a year after the seven-murder incident, police on April 8 this year submitted the charge sheet in the case, naming 35 people, including Nur Hossain and the three sacked Rab officials.

Of them, 22, including 17 Rab members, are in jail while 13 are on the run, sources said.

Once a truck helper, Nur Hossain amassed huge wealth at home and abroad with the blessings of major political parties since late '80s, according to media reports.

Nur, who was a vice president of Siddhirganj Thana Awami League when the murders took place, reportedly owns businesses and assets in India and Malaysia.

Even though he was accused in 21 cases in Siddhirganj and Fatullah, he managed to stay out of jail and maintain his influence in the city until the seven-murder incident.