Staff Reporter :Four members of the banned militant outfit of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have murdered Rajshahi University Professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, said Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Commissioner Md Shamsuddin.”All the four JMB men were on the spot in Shalbagan area adjacent to Siddiquee’s residence on Rajshahi-Naogaon highway at about 7.40 am on April 23 and directly took part in the killing,” he told a press conference at RMP headquarters in Rajshahi on Tuesday.The RMP Commissioner said that three JMB men directly took part in the killing and another was waiting with a motorbike.JMB operational commander of Rajshahi region Maskawat Hasan alias Sakib alias Abdullah, arrested from Gaibandha on Monday, confessed before a Rajshahi court that he along with three other JMB men directly took part in the killing of Prof Rezaul Karim Siddiquee.Metropolitan Magistrate Khalid Hasan Khan recorded the statement of JMB man Maskawat Hasan under Section 164.”Four JMB men came to the spot where like previous days Professor Rezaul Karim had been waiting for university transport. Three of them swooped on him and chopped him from the back direction while another riding motorbike had been keeping a close watch in the area,” the RMP Commissioner said. He said after committing the brutal murder, riding motorbike two fled the scene while two other managed a good escape in another way. “Later, they took shelter at a residence in Kharkhari area. The law enforcers arrested three other alleged JMB men from Kharkhari area on Monday. These three JMB men had given them shelter. These three aided the killers but did not take part in the killing directly,” he said The RMP Commissioner, however, did not disclose the names of the three other arrested alleged JMB men.”We hope that we would be able to arrest other killers very soon based on information obtained from the arrested persons,” he said.The law enforcers seized a motorcycle used during the killing operation, and two sharp weapons from the possession of the arrestees, the commissioner said.The law enforcers have so far arrested seven people in connection with the killing.Prof Siddiquee, a teacher of English literature on April 23 was hacked to death while he was waiting for University bus in Shalbagan area of Rajshahi city. His son Riyasat Imtiaz Shourav later filed a case with Boalia Police Station accusing unnamed people for the murder. Militant group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors global terror activities.The government maintains there is no IS presence in the country.
