Sagar Biswas :
Questions have been raised why police started playing ‘hide and seek game’ about the findings of investigation into the Mahmuda Khanam Mitu murder case where husband of slain victim SP Babul Akter has also been quizzed over fifteen hours.
Police statements made so far indicate that Babul is a prime suspect. But the Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police [CMP] Iqbal Bahar, despite repeated queries, refused to divulge any information ‘for the sake of investigation’.
In this backdrop, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Monday said, “We’ve arranged a meeting between SP Babul Akter and the arrestees to know why they killed his wife.”
Why he was kept more than 15 hours under police custody, the Minister said, “I hope you have already got an answer….we wanted to confirm whether the police have arrested the right suspects [killers].”
“We’ve identified the suspected killers who have killed Babul’s wife. Of the suspects, some have been caught. I’m sure, others will also be netted in the near future,” Kamal said.
But it raised suspicion among the concerned circle as police still not cleared when and from where Maotaleb Mia Wasim [alleged shooter] and Anowar Hossain [backup team member] were arrested.
But analyzing Minister’s statement it is clear that both were arrested before Friday, because Babul was picked up for interrogation on the day.
Sources close to the CMP told The New Nation that out of seven suspects [Musa, Rashed, Nabi, Anowar, Shahjahan, Kalu and Wasim] the police have so far been arrested six in the meantime, except one Kalu who is now on the run.
Meanwhile, Wasim and Anowar, both sources of SP Babul, in their confessional statement given before the Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate court said that a gang of seven took part in the killing mission. Of them, three were directly involved in murder.
In their statements [Wasim 14 pages and Anowar 10 pages] given under section 164 CRPC, they confessed that one ‘Boro Bhai Musa’ had assigned them to conduct the ‘Mitu killing mission’.
According to them, Musa told them that they would get money if they kill a woman [Mitu] who finances militants. The man who could shoot Mitu would get Tk 3 lakh and other participants would get Tk 2 lakh each. But they did not get the contract money.
Now questions have also been raised who is Musa? What’s his identity? And was Mitu involved in militant financing? Or everything was a part of murder plot? Wasim in his confessional statement also said that the murder plan at first was taken in the rented house of Musa at Bakolia in Chittagong city. Then why police mum about Musa?
Although, the CMP has claimed that Wasim shot Mitu from point blank range, but it failed to recover the gun [used in the mission] till the date. In his confessional statement Wasim also claimed that that fire was shot by Musa. And most surprisingly, Wasim did not disclose the name who ordered him to kill Mitu!
At present, Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division, Rapid Action Battalion [RAB], Police Bureau of Investigation [PIB], Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and simultaneously investigating the sensational incident. But CMP is the prime investigator of the murder.
