Staff Reporter :
Police on Wednesday rejected the elite force Rapid Action Battalion’s (RAB) claim about the identity of the dead Neo-Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Sarwar Jahan alias Abdur Rahman, saying he was a third grade leader of the banned outfit organisation.
Suspected militant Abdur Rahman died after falling from the fourth floor of a building in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital during a raid on October 8.
“Sarwar Jahan was actually a third grade leader of Neo-JMB. There is adequate evidence to this end. A responsible person like him (RAB DG) can’t make such remark about an under-trial case,” Monirul Islam, Chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told journalists at a press briefing in the city yesterday. Earlier on October 21, RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed at a press conference in the city claimed that Abdur Rahman was the Ameer (chief) of Neo-JMB. He also claimed that the Italian national Cesare Tavella was shot dead by members Neo JMB.
RAB DG also said when Tamim Choudhury was apprehended in Narayanganj, he had been exchanging text messages with Sarwar Jahan.
However, the Detective Branch (DB) of Police said that the BNP leader, Qaiyum, was responsible for the murder.
Replying to a query about RAB’s claim that Tavella was killed by militants, Monirul Islam said there is no scope of raising any question about the probe into the killing of Cesare Tavella as the investigation agency pressed charges on the basis of ‘proper information and evidence.
After investigation, the DB Police submitted a charge-sheet against seven people, including Dhaka city BNP’s joint convener MA Qaiyum and his brother Abdul Matin, before a Dhaka Court on June 28 last.
Later on Tuesday, a Dhaka Court framed charges against them in connection with the murder of the Italian national.
Cesare Tavella, 50, an official of the Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation ‘ICCO Cooperation’, was shot dead by some miscreants at the end of Road No-90 of Gulshan on September 28 last year.
