Philip Sangma, who allegedly helped Faisal escape, arrested in West Bengal

The person named Philip Sangma, who has been identified as an aider in helping the main two accused in the murder of Inquilab Moncho's convener Shaheed Sharif Osman Bin Hadi flee Bangladesh, has been apprehended in India.

Today, Saturday, diplomatic sources from Kolkata confirmed to Prothom Alo that he was detained near Shantipur in Nadia district of West Bengal.

The arrest of Philip Sangma, a resident of Haluaghat, Mymensingh, has been officially communicated to the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata by the West Bengal Police.

Previously, late at night last Saturday, the main accused in the Osman Hadi murder case, Faisal Karim Masud, and his associate Alamgir Hossain were arrested by Indian police.

They were apprehended in an operation in Bongaon, a border area of West Bengal adjacent to Bangladesh, according to a press release by the West Bengal Police Special Task Force (STF).

On 12 December of last year, a while after the Friday prayers, Osman Hadi, who was in a rickshaw on Kalvert Road, Purana Paltan, Dhaka, was shot by assailants. After shooting him in the head, the attackers fled on a motorcycle.

Osman Hadi, who was seriously wounded, was sent to Singapore for treatment, where he died six days later.

Though the police identified Faisal Karim, a former leader of the banned student organisation, and his associate Alamgir as the attackers, they were initially unable to apprehend them.

According to police officials, on 12 December, after conducting the attack, Faisal and Alamgir fled to India through the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh.

Police had indicated that preparations for their crossing the border had been made in advance by Taizul Islam Chowdhury (Bappi), a leader of the banned organisation Jubo League. Faisal and Alamgir were assisted by brokers to cross the border.

In the Haluaghat border area, there are some brokers who illegally transport people across the border in exchange for money. Philip Sangma is one of them. His home is in Bhutiapara village adjacent to the Haluaghat border.

Earlier, police had arrested two associates of Philip during an operation. From them, it was learned that after helping Faisal and Alamgir cross the border, and realising from television news that they had committed a significant crime in Dhaka, they alerted Philip, who then went into hiding.

With the arrest of Philip, a total of three individuals connected to the Osman Hadi murder case have been apprehended in India. The process to extradite Faisal and Alamgir, who were arrested earlier, has started, according to law enforcement agencies.

So far, 12 individuals have been arrested in the country in connection with the Osman Hadi murder case. All of them are accused in the charge sheet. Two individuals, including Taizul, are still absconding.

In this murder case, on 7 January, the detective police had filed a charge sheet against 17 people in court. However, following an objection from Abdullah Al Jaber, the member secretary of Inquilab Moncho and complainant in the case, the court ordered further investigation.

The CID is now conducting the investigation of the case.