The West Bengal police on Monday (December 29) denied that five Bangladeshi nationals, linked to the alleged killers of a political activist in Dhaka, were arrested by its Special Task Force (STF), even as a BSF Eastern Frontier senior officer rubbished claims that the two assassins crossed over to Meghalaya on or after December 12.
In a post on X, the West Bengal police said, “We have noticed some posts on social media claiming that the West Bengal Police STF (Special Task Force) has detained several citizens of a neighboring country in connection with a recent incident there. This news is completely baseless. Please refrain from spreading rumors”.
Speaking to Northeast News over the phone, BSF’s Eastern Frontier IG Om Prakash Upadhyay said that reports suggesting that the alleged killers of Inquilab Mancha Convenor Osman Goni alias Sharif Osman Hadi crossed over are “false, fabricated, baseless and mendacious”.
Upadhyay went on to say that the alleged killers – Faisal Karim Masud alias Daud Khan and Alamgir Hossein – could not have crossed over from Myemensing’s Haluaghat area as the Border Guard Bangladesh’s (BGB) security infrastructure in that sector is “extremely good” with “sophisticated surveillance equipment installed along the entire segment”.
Earlier today, BSF Director General Parvin Kumar held a 45-minute video conference with all Eastern Frontier IGs and sector DIGs, where the issue of the alleged crossing over to India of Goni’s killers and their associates came up for discussion. It was decided that the BSF would not only maintain full alert along the entire stretch of the border on the Eastern Frontier but also remain watchful of “misleading and motivated” information being put out on social media.
The West Bengal police’s denial was in response to a post by a Bangladeshi social media influencer who claimed on December 28 that the STF had arrested five Awami League activists, including the personal secretary to a senior party leader, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, and a Bangladeshi national, Philip Senal, in Kolkata.
Inquiries by Northeast News indicate that no such arrests have been made, even as the four Awami League and Chhatra League activists named in the social influencer’s post were found to be free in their respective locations. There was also no information available on the entry of Philip Senal into West Bengal, police sources in Kolkata said.
ALSO READ: No Indian arrested in Meghalaya for links with Bangladesh political activist’s killing: Tura police
Earlier, contrary to claims made by a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer today, the Tura district police did not arrest any Indian national supposedly involved in helping Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Hossein, who were allegedly involved in firing at Goni on December 12. Officers-in-charge of at least four police stations that Northeast News contacted affirmed that no arrests had been made in areas under their jurisdiction on December 26.
