The three arrested are believed to be members of a gang popularly known as the 'Malam Party' -- who rub in stinging balm into their victims' eyes.

On Thursday night, the unconscious body of Sheikh Atiar Rahman, 55, deputy assistant director of NSI, was recovered by police from the Kafrul area. Atiar was declared dead after he was sent to National Heart Foundation hospital at Mirpur.

The three arrestees were identified as Raqibul Hasan Rakib, Munir Hossain and Bhutto alias Paltu.

A Dhaka court granted two-days' remand for each after the police produced them before it seeking seven-day remand, said Abdul Hakim, sub-inspector of Kafrul Police Station.

Family members said that on Thursday at 7:45pm, on the evening of the incident, they spoke with Atiar over cellphone after he had returned from Kushtia and got off a Hanif Paribahan bus at Kalyanpur.

Atiar told them that he was about to board a CNG-run auto rickshaw and would reach his house at Ahmedbagh, Basabo within half an hour.

Later that night, at around 3:00am, Atiar's family learnt from the police that Atiar was dead.

Victim's only son Mamun Ferdous, a textile engineer, told The Daily Star over cellphone that he and his family suspect that Atiar might have been killed by either Malam or Agyan Party muggers.

He also suspected that the muggers decided to kill his father when they realised that chances of getting away after the mugging were slim since Atiar was an NSI official.

He did not however rule out involvement of others who had animosity with his father during his posting in Kushtia.