Cops arrest wanted criminal Abdul Hussain in N Dinajpur

Raiganj: In a significant breakthrough, police arrested Abdul Hussain, a wanted criminal linked to the undertrial escape and police firing case, from Rasakhoa in Karandighi Police Station area of North Dinajpur district on Monday night. He was produced before the Islampur Sub-Divisional Court on Tuesday, with police seeking his custody for further investigation.

Police previously arrested another miscreant Seikh Hajrat from Purbo Goldia village of Goalpokhar in connection with the case.

The arrest of Hussain is seen as a major achievement in the ongoing crackdown on cross-border criminal activities in the region. Hussain, the alleged mastermind of the escape case, is a resident of Maradhar in Haripur police station area of Thakurgaon district in Bangladesh.

He is accused of providing firearms to Sajjak Alam, an undertrial prisoner who escaped police custody on January 15 near Ekarchala in Goalpokhar. The escape incident, in which Alam opened fire at police while returning to Raiganj jail from Islampur court, left Assistant Sub-Inspector Nilkanta Sarkar and Constable Deben Bisya critically injured.

Following the attack, police launched an extensive manhunt for Alam and Hussain, offering a reward of Rs 2 lakh for information leading to their capture. On Saturday morning, Alam was killed in an encounter with police at Kichaktola in Goalpokhar while attempting to escape towards Bangladesh.

Investigations revealed that Hussain was hiding in a village near the Bangladesh border. A combing operation was launched in Goalpokhar and Karandighi police station areas, leading to his arrest

on Monday night. Hussain had a history of illegal entry into India. In 2019, he was apprehended for entering India with firearms and served four years in Islampur jail before being repatriated to Bangladesh in 2023. Despite this, he frequently re-entered India illegally and operated from his father-in-law’s house in Jhargaon, Goalpokhar, conducting criminal activities.

Jobby Thomas, Superintendent of Police, Islampur, said: “After arresting Abdul Hussain, we have produced him in court seeking police custody. He will be interrogated to uncover further details of the crime.”