Changed name fails to save terrorist Imon
Monday, 10 December 2007
KOLKATA, Dec 9 (bdnews24.com): The West Bengal police have finally arrested one of Dhaka's "most wanted" criminals, Shahidur Rahman, better known as Imon.
They cornered him at Ultadanga railway station, not far from Dumdum airport, Saturday, but Imon insisted that he was Swapan Sarkar, a resident of Dumdum.
A police officer asked him his "Gotra", the family tree symbol, something most Hindus would remember.
Imon said his "Gotra" was "Sarkar" as in the surname.
"Sarkar is no Gotra, so our officers knew that he was not a Hindu," said Rajiv Kumar, inspector general (CID), West Bengal police.
But Kumar said Imon had an Indian voter ID card by the name of Swapan Sarkar with his photo in it and a Kolkata driving licence.
He had been living in Dumdum for a long time, residents said.
"He was so well behaved that we could never believe he was such a big criminal in Bangladesh. But we could see some late night feasting in his house quite often," one neighbour Milon Bhattacharya told the news agency.
Kumar further said Imon was also carrying some counterfeit Indian currency, giving rise to "strong suspicions" that he was connected with a fake currency racket in West Bengal.
"We will produce him in court Monday and seek a long remand because we want to find out about his accomplices who might be in the state. We also want to have details of any fake currency racket here," he said.
Imon was allegedly running an extortion ring in Dhaka even during his stay in West Bengal.
India received an Interpol notice recently about Imon.
It was not clear how soon India would repatriate Imon to Bangladesh, if at all.
Another top Bangladesh criminal Tanvirul Islam Joy was arrested in Kolkata this year but he had not been handed over to Bangladesh.
India is upset over Bangladesh's persistent refusal to deport Assamese militant leader Anup Chetia even after he had finished serving his jail term.
Chetia was general secretary of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) during his arrest in 1997.
The two countries do not have an extradition treaty between them.
They cornered him at Ultadanga railway station, not far from Dumdum airport, Saturday, but Imon insisted that he was Swapan Sarkar, a resident of Dumdum.
A police officer asked him his "Gotra", the family tree symbol, something most Hindus would remember.
Imon said his "Gotra" was "Sarkar" as in the surname.
"Sarkar is no Gotra, so our officers knew that he was not a Hindu," said Rajiv Kumar, inspector general (CID), West Bengal police.
But Kumar said Imon had an Indian voter ID card by the name of Swapan Sarkar with his photo in it and a Kolkata driving licence.
He had been living in Dumdum for a long time, residents said.
"He was so well behaved that we could never believe he was such a big criminal in Bangladesh. But we could see some late night feasting in his house quite often," one neighbour Milon Bhattacharya told the news agency.
Kumar further said Imon was also carrying some counterfeit Indian currency, giving rise to "strong suspicions" that he was connected with a fake currency racket in West Bengal.
"We will produce him in court Monday and seek a long remand because we want to find out about his accomplices who might be in the state. We also want to have details of any fake currency racket here," he said.
Imon was allegedly running an extortion ring in Dhaka even during his stay in West Bengal.
India received an Interpol notice recently about Imon.
It was not clear how soon India would repatriate Imon to Bangladesh, if at all.
Another top Bangladesh criminal Tanvirul Islam Joy was arrested in Kolkata this year but he had not been handed over to Bangladesh.
India is upset over Bangladesh's persistent refusal to deport Assamese militant leader Anup Chetia even after he had finished serving his jail term.
Chetia was general secretary of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) during his arrest in 1997.
The two countries do not have an extradition treaty between them.