North Dinajpur police on Monday night nabbed Abdul Hussain, a Bangladeshi national who was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to free undertrial Sajjak Alam from police custody.

A police team intercepted Hussain at Barhas under the jurisdiction of Karandighi police station in the district. On Tuesday, a court in Islampur remanded him in police custody for 10 days.

Sources said on January 15, Hussain, along with Sheikh Hazrat who is also in police custody, had supplied a firearm and bullets to Sajjak at the court lockup in Islampur.

Sajjak was at the Raiganj correctional home and was taken to Islampur by a police team in connection with a case.

While the team was taking him back to Raiganj, he made them stop the vehicle in Panjipara on the pretext that he needed to relieve himself.

As he got out of the vehicle, he took out the firearm and fired at two policemen who were escorting him. Both sustained bullet injuries and collapsed on the spot while
Sajjak fled.

The police found out that Hussain and Hazrat had helped him with the firearm. The duo had also arranged shelters for him.

The cops started searching for him and on January 18 morning, they zeroed in on Sajjak in Kichaktola village under the jurisdiction of Goalpokhar police station. When they asked him to surrender, Sajjak allegedly fired at them, prompting the police
to retaliate.

He was hit by three bullets and succumbed to his injuries when rushed to a local
health centre.

“Abdul Hussain was arrested yesterday night. The police have found that he had supplied the firearm to Sajjak Alam and also helped him as he fled from police custody,” said Sanjay Bhowal, a government lawyer in Islampur.

Sources said earlier, Hussain had been arrested for infiltrating into India. He was convicted and sent to the Islampur correctional home where he met Sajjak.

Hussain was released after the end of his term of imprisonment. “There was a court order that he should be pushed back to Bangladesh then. It seems he infiltrated into India again and joined hands with Hazrat and others to carry out criminal activities,”
said a source.

Four policemen, who were posted at the Islampur court lockup when Sajjak was taken there, were suspended for dereliction of duty, said Joby Thomas, the superintendent of the Islampur police district.

“We will interrogate Abdul Hussain to know who else was involved in the plan to free Sajjak Alam. The CID is probing the death of the undertrial (Sajjak) as per the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission. On the other hand, we are continuing the investigation of the incident of firing at Panjipara where two policemen were shot,” said Thomas.