Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Awami League General Secretary and former Roads and Bridges minister Obaidul Quader, one of the masterminds of the July-August massacre, has fled to India by illegally crossing the border. Currently he is staying in a hotel in Guwahati, the capital of Assam state.

It is learnt that in the first week of this month, he crossed the Sylhet border with the help of an influential group to Shillong, the capital of the Indian state of Meghalaya. After staying there for 1-2 days, he took refuge in Gauhati, Assam. Obaidul Quader continues to try to meet the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who fled to India in the mass uprising of the students on August 5. He has arranged to stay there as communication with Sheikh Hasina is easy from Guwahati.

Several related sources including some businessmen from India and Bangladesh confirmed this.

According to a source related to the Sylhet border, he managed to escape to India through the border adjacent to the Goainghat upazila of Sylhet late in the first week of this November. Before fleeing, he stayed in a luxary house known as '500 million house' located in Islampur (Majortila) Puravi residential area of Sylhet city for about a month and communicated with the influential circles. Later, he planned to flee illegally to India through the Sylhet border from here.

Sources also said that after crossing the border to India, he first met some fugitive leaders of Sylhet district Awami League in Shillong, Meghalaya.

After consulting with those leaders there, he decided to stay in Gauhati. A source said that the meeting with Sheikh Hasina is important as the reason for staying there. Hundreds of leaders and activists of Sylhet including General Secretary of Sylhet District Awami League and former Chairman of Zilla Parishad Nasir Uddin Khan, Organizing Secretary of Awami League and Director of BCB Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel are illegally crossing the border and living in different areas including Shillong, Gauhati.

Beside, the fugitive mayor of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, Sylhet district Awami League president former expatriate welfare and foreign employment state minister Shafikur Rahman Chowdhury, SCC councilor and metropolitan Awami League joint secretary Azadur Rahman Azad have already been able to cross safely to the UK through India. Ranjit, the murderer of several party leaders and activists of Sylhet's Tilagarh area and former MP of Sunamganj-1 Constituency. Dozens of leaders including Kumar Sarkar and Awami League leader Bidhan Kumar Saha.

In the face of the bloody movement of anti-discrimination students, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ministers-MPs and leaders of various levels of Awami League fled. But Obaidul Quader did not get that opportunity. He fled to different parts of the country for more than three months. The law and order forces conducted raids in different parts of the country to arrest him. But those efforts failed. After the ouster, he has been accused in more than two hundred cases including murder cases in various districts and upazilas of the country.

Talking to various sources at the Sylhet border, it is known that most of the Awami League leaders and activists who are in hiding have already managed to move to different parts of India. Very few leaders are in the country. It has been reported that a significant number of leaders managed to flee the country in the months of August, September and October. Most of them have taken refuge in India. Apart from this, several ministers-state ministers and influential leaders have migrated to Europe-America through India. Several central leaders including MPs, ministers and state ministers have been arrested by the police and are currently in jail.

The question has been raised, despite the vigilant position of law and order forces, how it is possible to escape in exchange of a huge amount of money. Awami League workers-supporters at different levels are angry with these news. They are surprised to know the story of leaders moving abroad in exchange of huge amount of money.