Wanted by Interpol: 2 arrested over human trafficking
Two Bangladeshis wanted by Interpol on human trafficking charges were arrested by law enforcers in Bangladesh and Italy on Thursday, said investigators.
Jafor Ikbal, 38, of Kishoreganj, and Shahadat Hossain, 28, of Dhaka, stand accused in a human trafficking case filed in connection with the killings of 26 Bangladeshis in Libya last year.
Jafor was held in the Italian city of Cosenza, while police arrested Shahadat from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka upon his arrival from abroad, investigators added.
The two were put in Interpol's "wanted-list" along with four other Bangladeshi accused in the human trafficking case filed with Paltan Police Station in June last year.
A red notice was issued by Interpol asking about their whereabouts in November.
Senior Superintendent of Police Jisanul Hoque of the Criminal Investigation Department's organised crime unit yesterday said Italy police nabbed Jafor from Cosenza based on Interpol's red notice.
Meanwhile, the CID arrested Shahadat from Dhaka airport upon his arrival from abroad, he said.
The CID official, however, refused to disclose details regarding the arrest.
Mohiul Islam, assistant inspector general of police at National Central Bureau (NCB) in Dhaka, said Bangladesh does not have any treaty with Italy for extraditing prisoners.
However, it will be possible to bring him back home from Italy through mutual cooperation, he said.
On May 28 last year, alleged human traffickers killed 30 migrant workers, including 26 Bangladeshis in Libya. The incident caused a huge public outcry at home and abroad.
The killing took place at a smuggling warehouse in the city of Mizdah near Tripoli. Twelve more Bangladeshis were also injured in the attack, nine of whom were repatriated.
CID official Jisanul said 26 cases were filed all over Bangladesh in connection with the killing incident.
The CID is investigating 25 cases, he said.
Some 299 people have been made accused in the first information reports of the cases, while police have so far arrested 171 of them, he added.
So far, 42 arrestees have given confessional statements before the court, he said.
Interpol issued a red notice against six alleged human traffickers following assistance from the Police Headquarters in Dhaka, said the CID official.
Another suspect in the Interpol's "wanted-list" might have been hiding in Italy, he added.
Interpol put the six human traffickers of Bangladesh in their "wanted list" on charges of deceiving job seekers and "wrongfully confining and killing" people over ransom demands.
The four others are: Minto Mia, 41, Shapan, 28, Tanzirul, 35, all from Kishoreganj, and Molla Nazrul Islam, 43, from Madaripur.
The CID wrote to the NCB, the Bangladesh counterpart of Interpol, in October last year against the six when the process started.
Red notices by Interpol are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
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