Subhra Kanti Gupta

Kolkata, Oct 9 (bdnews24.com)--Crimelord Subrata Bayen is still in Bhadrapur jail in eastern Nepal , where he was arrested last month, Kolkata police officials said.

Two police officers were arrested in Kakarvita, just inside Nepal, when they chased Subrata in a desperate bid to capture him.

These officers were from the Special Task Force of the Kolkata police which has been after Subrata ever since he jumped bail.

But as they chased Subrata in broad daylight on Sep 22, Nepal police arrested all three and booked them for commiting "nuisance in public".

Later, Indian diplomats intervened to secure the release of the police officers, who initially did not reveal their identity for obvious reasons.

It took the Indian embassy nearly a week to get these policemen out after their identity was proved.

But Subrata confused the Nepal police by producing a local citizenship certificate that showed he was resident of Sunsari district .

"The Nepal police have no idea of his past. They think he is a local smuggler who got into trouble with Indian police for not paying up," said local journalist Umakanta.

So, Subrata is likely to remain in Bhadrapur jail for a few more days until his prison term for "commiting nuisance in public" runs out.

Strangely though, Bangladesh embassy in Kathmandu has not approached the Nepal government for extradition of the crimelord, an wanted criminal who is being hunted by Interpol.

"Perhaps the Bangladesh diplomats also have no idea that Subrata Bayen is in a Nepal jail because he has confused people here with his Nepali citizenship," journalist Umakanta said.

Bayen, who was arrested in arms and intrusion cases in Kolkata, secured bail from a Kolkata court on Jan 6.

Police failed to chargesheet him within the stipulated period of 60 days from the day of his arrest, which was why Bayen was granted bail, his lawyer Lalan Singh had said.

Special Task Force of Kolkata police nabbed him from his hideout at Karaya on Oct 13, 2008.

He was on the list of 23 wanted notorious criminals handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department early last year.

For the past few years, Bangladesh government has claimed that Bayen has been sheltered in West Bengal.

The CID had also nabbed a few more high-profile Bangladeshi criminals like Tanvirul Islam Joy and Harris Ahmed.

Bayen earned notoriety as a dreadful killer and an extortionist, and allegedly had close links with the BNP.

Police said Bayen was involved in several murders including that of JSD Chhatra League leader Murad. Since then, he has been on the run.

Though sentenced to life for Murad's murder in 1991, Bayen's high-profile connections helped him get bail.

But he went on with his extortion racket in Bangladesh. A regular visitor to Kolkata, Bayen has been hunted by the Rapid Action Battalion ever since the interim government took charge.

Bayen settled down in India with the help of an old friend, a wealthy businessman in West Bengal. He took shelter in the border areas of Nadia and invested a huge sum in fisheries there as well as in North 24-Parganas.

He even managed to obtain a fake ration card, a driving licence and a voter ID card to prove himself as an Indian.

Before his arrest, Bayen returned from China and police claimed that he had been trying to settle down in Nepal eventually.

bdnews24.com/skg/bd/1643h.