Barasat, May 9: The Bangladesh government has claimed that six out of nine people arrested from North 24-Parganas’ Bongaon last week were ?most wanted criminals? in the neighbouring country.

The suspected Bangladeshis were picked up about 90 km from Calcutta along with radio equipment, foreign currency and several cellphones.

Dhaka has written to Delhi seeking that the six be handed over to them. ?These six persons are most wanted criminals in our country. When we came to know about their arrest, we requested the Government of India to hand them over to us. We are waiting for a response from Delhi,? said Shakil Ahmed Biswas, the press secretary at the country’s deputy high commission in Calcutta.

BSF personnel raided a community hall on May 4 to nab the intruders lodged in an adjoining room. Three days later, they were handed over to police. An officer said those arrested claimed that they belonged to the Awami League, Bangladesh’s main opposition party.

?We came to know about the arrest on May 5 and immediately handed over the list of six to the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka,? said Biswas.

The police said that during interrogation the arrested persons told them they belonged to Awami League, opposition party in Bangladesh.

?The arrested persons told us they are members of the student wing of the Awami League. They complained of severe torture in Bangladesh before they crossed the border with valid passports. We are still interrogating them,? said Praveen Kumar, superintendent of police, North 24--Parganas.

The SP, however, said he was not aware about any request from Bangladesh to Delhi about handing them over. ?We have not yet received any such information,? he said.

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