Our Narayanganj Correspondent The ex-RAB-11 officer Lt Commander MM Rana was arrested from Dhaka Cantonment area early Sunday for his alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of seven people in Naraynganj. He was later produced before the court and placed on a seven-day remand.Narayanganj court of Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mahiuddin granted the remand when police produced him before the court on Sunday afternoon seeking a ten-day remand for interrogation. The court granted a seven-day remand. During brief hearing, Rana claimed himself innocent and said the murder spot was not his duty area.Narayanganj police early Sunday picked up Rana, a Naval officer deputed to RAB, from Dhaka Cantonment and took him to Narayanganj Police Lines. When contacted, duty officer of Cantonment Police Station Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam said Narayanganj district police with the help of Cantonment thana police arrested SM Rana from the Cantonment area at about 1:30 am and took him to Narayanganj.Lt Commander MM Rana was arrested a day after the Narayanganj district police nabbed two other RAB officers-former Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and ex-Major Arif Hossain of Bangladesh Army-from the same area early Saturday.Police already took Tareque Sayeed and Arif Hossain on a five-day remand for interrogation in connection with the seven murder in Narayanganj. On May 6, the three RAB officers were sent on forced retirement following the allegation of their involvement in the abduction and killing of the seven people including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker.Their names cropped up when Nazrul’s father-in-law Shahidul Islam alleged that some officials of RAB-11 had killed Nazrul in exchange for Tk 6 crore from councillor Nur Hossain and his accomplices.On April 27, seven people including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and his three associates and driver were abducted from Fatullah area in Narayanganj city. Hours into the abduction senior lawyer of Narayanganj District Judge’s Court Chandan Kumar Sarker and his driver were also abducted while they were going to Dhaka.Three days into their abduction, the bodies of six people, including Nazrul and Chandan, were recovered from the Shitalakhya and Dhaleshwari rivers on April 30. Besides, the body of Jahangir, the car driver of Nazrul, was recovered from the Shitalakhya river. Meanwhile, the same court here on Sunday issued a notice asking the investigation officer (IO) of the seven murder case to explain within four days why the two former RAB officials-Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and Arif Hossain- were not shown arrested in the murder case. The two former RAB officials were arrested under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mohiuddin sought the explanation from the IO Mamunur Rashid Mondol, in response to a petition filed by the son-in-law of slain Chandan Kumar Sarkar. Narayanganj district Lawyers’ Association Advocate Sakhawat Hossain said the former RAB officers were not shown arrested in the murder case for which they expressed resentment. “We have filed a petition on behalf of son-in-law of slain lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar to show them arrested in the murder case.”The court issued the show-cause notice to the IO after hearing the petition, Hossain said.The court said from the evidence it was proved that the accused were involved in the murder.Their involvement was also mentioned in the report on showing them arrested under section 54, it said.The IO will have to report the court on why they were not shown as arrested in the murder case on the day when the former RAB officers would be produced in the court after their remand expired, the order said.
