Bangladesh tracks down fugitive killers of nation’s founder

Dhaka two months ago asked India to track down and return two of the convicted killers.

Bangladesh has stepped up “diplomatic contacts” to bring back the fugitives involved in the assasination of the country’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,Law minister Shafique Ahmed said today.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has maintained diplomatic contacts with the concerned countries to bring back the fugitives to Bangladesh,” Ahmed was quoted as saying by

the state-run BSS news agency.

Ahmed confirmed that one of the two men who shot Bangabandhu,sacked lieutenant colonel Noor Chowdhury took refuge in Canada and was fighting a legal battle to stay back to evade justice.

“His case is still pending with a Canadian court but he is likely to lose the battle. We (Bangladesh) have appointed a law firm there to secure his repatriation,” the minister said.

The other man involved in the assassination was ex-major Bazlul Huda who was executed along with four others last year.

Ahmed,however,declined to disclose where the three other absconding putsch leaders were hiding for “technical reasons”.

Dhaka two months ago asked India to track down and return two of the convicted killers as they were believed to be hiding in the country.

However,India has sought more information on their whereabouts.

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A senior police officer,on condition of anonymity,earlier told PTI that among the fugitives,ex-lieutenant colonel Khandaker Abdur Rashid was hiding in Libya.

Shariful Haque Dalim was in Kenya,Rashed Chowdhury in the United States and ex-captain Abdul Majed and Risaldar Moslehuddin in India.

Interpol in July last year held a special meeting with representatives of member countries at its headquarters at Leon in France where the international police organisation launched a special campaign to track down high-profile fugitives of different countries under a drive called “operation Infra Red”.

Thailand had returned Huda in 1998 after Dhaka and Bangkok signed an extradition treaty while the United States returned Mohiuddin Ahmed (lancer) during the past military-backed caretaker government in 2007 after he failed to obtain a federal court order there to stay back.

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,daughter of Bangabandhu,earlier promised to bring back the six convicted killers.

Bangabandhu was killed along with most of his family

members in a coup on August 15,1975 while Hasina and her

younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the putsch as they were outside Bangladesh at that time.