The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) started probing the murder of Bashundhara director Humayun Kabir Sabbir and Babar's receiving money soon after the case was transferred to it from the Detective Branch (DB) on June 12.

The DB had found Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan's son Safiat Sobhan Sanbeer, another Bashundhara Director Shamsuddin Ahmed and Sanbeer's close associate Khairul Hasan Ujjal involved in the murder.

"Our investigation officer is now investigating the case and when the probe is over we will take the next course of action," CID chief Foni Bhushan Chowdhury told The Daily Star.

The joint forces have already recovered Babar's Tk 20 crore and deposited it with the Bangladesh Bank on May 25 after the former state minister admitted during interrogation to receiving the sum from the Bashundhara chairman for not implicating his son in the murder.

Babar admitted that Sobhan went to him and agreed to provide Tk 50 crore against his demand of Tk 100 crore in exchange for not implicating Sanbeer in the case after investigators detected Sanbeer's involvement in the killing. The detained former state minister for home also admitted that he received the bribe with the consent of the then premier Khaleda Zia and her eldest son Tarique Rahman.

A CID official said they will collect the information gleaned from Babar and decide if a case could be filed against him after consulting with top officials about the findings.

CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Arman Ali, investigation officer of the case, said he is still going through the case docket. "After reading the docket I will decide how to start my work," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

As per the law, if Babar is found to have received the bribe, a bribery case will be filed against him and other beneficiaries of the bribe, the official said.

SABBIR'S KILLING
Investigators said Sabbir's murder was not a planned one. He was killed as Sanbeer struck the back of his head with an empty bottle following an altercation over affairs with a female executive of a mobile phone company.

In the afternoon of July 4 last year, Sanbeer and Ujjal picked up Sabbir from his residence in Gulshan and took him to the "pleasure house" on Road-104 in Gulshan where Sanbeer used to arrange parties.

Sanbeer's friends and a few young Bashundhara officials used to visit the two flats on the fourth floor of the building and enjoy nights with girls and alcoholic beverages.

As the party was going on that night, Sanbeer, widely known as an arrogant youth, became drunk and suddenly started scolding Sabbir for his affair with the mobile phone company executive. At one stage he hit on the back of Sabbir's head with an empty bottle of wine and Sabbir collapsed on the floor unconscious and his breathing stopped.

Sanbeer informed his father of the incident over telephone and Sobhan sent Shamsuddin to the scene.

Sanbeer, Shamsuddin and Ujjal then wiped out the bloodstains from the carpet, brought down Sabbir's body by lift and abandoned it beside the boundary wall of House 3/G on Road-104 in Gulshan-1. Two guards of the flat--Nure Alam and Humayun--who have been absconding since the incident helped dump the body.

Investigators said Sabbir's body was kept beside the wall to give the impression that he fell from the veranda and died.

Although Sanbeer is married, he became attracted to the mobile phone company official a few days before Sabbir was murdered. He used to take the woman to different flats in Gulshan. When Sanbeer went abroad for a few days, a relationship developed between the girl and Sabbir and gradually they came closer, which infuriated Sanbeer.

Checking the call lists on the mobile phones of Sanbeer and Sabbir, the investigators detected the girl and quizzed her, which led to the arrest of two other girls who used to hang around with Sanbeer.

Later, the girls who witnessed the incident gave judicial statements to a magistrate narrating the incident.

Investigators said although they succeeded in detecting the killers, their superiors on orders of the men in government tried to influence the investigation and forced them to keep the investigation report shelved. The investigators said they had enough evidence to submit the charge sheet of the case.