3 suspects held
Three suspects including a woman were detained in Narayanganj and Comilla yesterday over the murder of Sheikh Nurul Islam Faruqi, imam of Supreme Court Jame Masjid.
Police rounded up Mahmuda Khatun, 50, and Shariful Islam, 32, in Rupganj upazila, said Abdul Momin, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in the capital.
Mahmuda works at the tailor shop owned by Shariful. She had visited the slain imam's house on the fateful day.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police picked up another suspect Yusuf from pourashava area of Chauddagram, Comilla in the evening.
Meanwhile, Islami Chhatra Sena has called a countrywide half-day hartal for today protesting the law enforcers' failure to nab the killers. However, the flood-hit areas and the transport of hajj pilgrims will be out of the purview of the hartal.
Assailants slit the throat of Faruqi at his East Rajabazar home in the capital on Wednesday night. The following day, his son Faisal Faruqi filed a murder and robbery case with the police station against eight to nine unnamed persons.
The case was transferred to Detective Branch of police yesterday.
During primary interrogation, Mahmuda said she visited Faruqi on Wednesday seeking dua (blessings) for her ailing son, Ashiqur Rahman, assistant deputy commissioner of DB (west), told The Daily Star quoting the arrestee.
Victim's family members told police that the woman had introduced herself as Asma. Mahmuda, however, denied it saying that they might have heard her wrong.
COUNTRYWIDE SHUTDOWN
Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and Islami Front have lent their support to the strike, Islami Chhatra Sena president Nurul Haque Chisty told a press conference at its Fakirapool central office in the capital.
Chhatra Sena workers will put up barricades on roads in different district towns during hartal hours (6:00am to 2:00pm) today and organise Islamic cultural programmes, but will not engage in any destructive activity, he added.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday urged the parties concerned to withdraw hartal called for today.
“Any negative activities, including hartal, will have a negative impact on the country's economy and image; and discourage foreign investment,” said the apex trade body in a statement.
It, however, urged the government to arrest the killers of Nurul Islam Faruqi without any delay and ensure their punishment.
LAID TO REST
Faruqi was laid to rest at his family graveyard at Nautari Nababganj village in Boda, Panchagarh yesterday afternoon, reports our Thakurgaon correspondent.
Ahmed Reza, Faruqi's elder son by his second wife, led his final namaj-e-janaja at the graveyard around 11:00am.
Thousands of people from Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Nilphamari attended the janaja and burial. Nurul Islam Sujan MP (Panchagarh-2) and ASP Din Mohammad of Panchagarh were present.
His third namaz-e-janaza was held at the Jatiya Eidgah maidan after Juma prayers on Friday.
Aged about 60, Faruqi was the international affairs secretary of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, and a presidium member of Bangladesh Islami Front. He owned a hajj agency, Faruqi Tours and Travels Private Ltd, and presented Islamic programmes on two private television channels.
Comments