Police have arrested six people, including prime suspect Arif, over the killing of Jubo Dal activist Tarek Hossain Bappi in Sitakunda, Chattogram. Three weapons, local and foreign-made, used in the killing were recovered from them, along with the motorcycle on which Bappi was attacked.
Chattogram district superintendent of police Md Masud Alam gave the details at a news conference at his office at about 11:30am on Sunday (18 October).
On Saturday night Bappi’s mother, Jamila Khatun, filed a murder case at Sitakunda Model police station naming Arif Hossain, joint secretary of the Chhatra Dal’s north district committee, as the main accused. Eighteen people are named in the case, all of them said to be leaders and activists of the Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal at various levels.
Those arrested include Md Arif Hossain, 28, of Middle Mahmudabad in Barabkunda, Sitakunda upazila; Rony alias Nur Ahmed Rony, 27; Fakhrul Islam, 31, of Olinagar; Abdul Mannan, 28, of Nodalia; and Ariful Islam Javed, 25, of Hasnabad in Muradpur.
“There had long been a dispute between the murdered Tarek Hossain Bappi and the prime accused Arif Hossain and his associates over dominance in the area,” superintendent Masud Alam told the news conference. “The police investigation found that, because of this dispute, the accused saw Bappi as an obstacle to their dominance and planned an attack on him.”
According to the superintendent, the accused took up position with firearms and local weapons on Friday night in front of the office of Jubo Dal leader Saddam in Olinagar, Sitakunda, as planned. They stopped Bappi’s motorcycle and attacked him without warning, and at one point fired at him. Tafsir Alam Shaon, who came forward to rescue Bappi, was also attacked: he was shot at and struck with sharp weapons. Both fell on the road seriously injured, and the attackers struck them again. Sensing that local people were gathering, they fired shots to cause panic and fled, the superintendent said. Chattogram district police began working to identify and arrest those involved immediately after the killing.
By analysing evidence from the scene, questioning people involved and carrying out a series of raids, police arrested six people, including prime suspect Arif Hossain, within 24 hours. A locally made gun (LG), a revolver and a pistol believed to have been used in the killing were recovered in the same operation.
Md Mohinul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sitakunda police station, said: “Bappi’s mother Jamila Khatun filed a case on Saturday night over his being shot dead in public. Eighteen people are named in the case and six or seven unnamed others are accused. The six arrested have been shown arrested in the case and sent to jail.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report