CTTC nabs top fugitive criminal

He was facing at least 27 cases, including 10 for murder, when he fled to India to evade arrest. But he was held in 2008 by the Indian authorities and sentenced to 10 years in prison for passport forgery and intrusion.

He then came out of jail and contacted another top fugitive to establish a "reign of terror" in Dhaka's Mirpur area staying in India.

Police claimed this after arresting the man, Mofizur Rahman Mamun, in Mirpur's Pallabi area yesterday morning. The law enforcers said he had come to Bangladesh recently.

A team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit (CTTC) made the arrest around 6:45am near Baitun Nur Jame Mosque area, said CTTC Deputy Commissioner Saiful Islam.

CTTC officials said Mamun stood accused in at least 27 cases and he was wanted in 15. He was sentenced to life term imprisonment in one of the cases.

According to a press release sent by DMP's media wing, CTTC officials had intelligence that some criminals were trying to gather firearms to carry out targeted killings and violence.

Suspecting this was an attempt by militants, the officials started investigation and carried out a drive in Pallabi area, detaining a person for interrogation.

During primary interrogation, the officials came to know that the arrestee was "top criminal" Mamun, the press release mentioned.

CTTC officials said Mamun was one of the top criminals from Mirpur area who "controlled the underworld in the area" before he was arrested by law enforcers in 2001.

He came out of jail and fled to India in 2004. While in India, he communicated with fugitive "top criminal" Shahadat Hossain. Shahadat's men used to extort money from different important people and businessmen by threatening them over phones, said police.