Police in Gaibandha have found a pistol buried in the courtyard of the Sundarganj home of former Jaitya Party MP Abdul Kader Khan.
They say he masterminded the assasination of ruling MP Manjurul Islam Liton. Sundarganj police OC Atiar Rahman said a pistol, loaded with six bullets, was found buried in the courtyard of Kader’s home in Chhaparhati village at the wee hours of Thursday. He told bdnews24.com that nothing was found after a day-long search at the home and the pond adjacent to it on Wednesday. “Later, it was recovered the pistol based on statements given by Kader, who is now on a 10-day remand. We suspected this pistol was used in Liton’s assassination. Forensic tests will be run on it,” said the police officer. He said that Kader had earlier turned in his licensed pistol to them, but could not provide an explanation over the ammunition issued to it.
“Police had told him to surrender his firearm and ammunition. Out of the 40 rounds of bullets said to be in his possession , he has submitted only 10 and could not give any plausible explanation for the rest.”
On Dec 1 last year, a man was mugged at Sundarganj’s Nayabazar. Locals later found a magazine with six bullets in it and submitted it to the police station. Law enforces say the magazine belongs to Kader’s licensed firearm. On the evening of Dec 31, unidentified assailants shot the ruling party MP from Gaibandha-1 (Sundarganj) constituency at his home several times. He died an hour later at a hospital in Rangpur.
Police claim Kader, the former MP from the same constituency, had masterminded Liton’s killing ‘to clear his path for election.’ “Kader Khan had been planning the assassination for the last one year. The four assailants were trained for six months in a warehouse,” police’s Rangpur Range chief Khandaker Golam Faruq told the media on Wednesday. Former Bangladesh Army colonel and a doctor by training, Kader is a presidium member of Jatiya Party. He got the party’s nomination in the past two elections but this time the opposition in Parliament has picked its Chairman HM Ershad’s legal adviser Shamim Haider Patwary to run for the Gaibandha by-polls after the seat fell vacant following Liton’s death.
Police also said Kader was also planning to murder Patwary after failing to get the party ticket.
The ruling party has chosen its Sundarganj Upazila unit General Secretary Golam Mostafa Ahmed for the by-election slated for Mar 22.
