Indian separatist held, remanded

A leader of Indian separatist organisation Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) was taken on a two-day remand yesterday after the detective branch (DB) had arrested him from the city on Tuesday.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Sanwar Hossain of DB told The Daily Star that they had arrested Tapan Petowari alias Palash Dey, a close aide to KLO chairman Jibon Singh and also his nephew, from the city's Hazaribagh dam area on charge of entering the country without passport. A case was filed with Hazaribagh Police Station in this connection.

Tapan was produced before the court with a prayer for seven days' remand and the court granted for two days, the AC DB said.

The DB suspects that Jibon Singh alias Timir Das, who is also suspected to be linked with Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel prize theft, is in Dhaka.

Talking to The Daily Star, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Monirul Islam of DB (South) said during primary interrogation, Tapan, son of Jibon's sister, said he sneaked into Bangladesh six years ago to avert arrest in India and had been residing with his family in Rangpur town.

"Tapan was under our watch and we suspected that he came to Dhaka to meet KLO boss Jibon Singh", the DC DB said adding, "Jibon Singh bears the living expenses of Tapan and his family."

DC Monirul Islam said some five to six other KLO men might be staying in the country.

DC Monirul Islam quoted Tapan as saying, "I have talked to my uncle over the Nobel prize theft, but he (Jibon) denied the allegation saying he is not a thief."

Earlier on February 2, the CID arrested Mohammad Hossain Shiplu from the city's Azimpur saying Shiplu was a Bangladeshi aide to Jibon Singh and also linked to the stealing of the Nobel prize.

Jibon Singh alias Timir Das hailed from Kumargram in Jalpaiguri district and emerged as the KLO chairman in 1995. The KLO was formed by the Koch-Rajbanshi tribes who strove to carve out a separate Kamtapur State comprising six districts of West Bengal and four of Assam.

Singh was first arrested by the Assam police in 1999 but managed to get out of the custody after an alleged deal that he would ensure the surrender of a large number of armed underground activists if he were let off.