4 suspects arrested
The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday detained four people, including a former ward-level Chhatra League leader, in and outside the capital for their alleged links with the shooting of an Awami League central leader last month.
The AL leader, AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem, was shot twice in the left hand on June 19 near Ibn Sina Diagnostic and Imaging Centre, on his way to Stamford University at Dhanmondi in Dhaka. He was discharged from Combined Military Hospital on June 28.
Of the detainees, Monir Hossain alias Monir, 28, a former leader of Tejgaon thana Chhatra League, was held form Pangsha upazila in Rajbari.
He had masterminded the attack on Shameem, said Rab Legal and Media Wing Director ATM Habibur Rahman at a press briefing at the force's headquarters.
On information extracted from Monir, Rab detained Mohammad Harun, 27, from Mymensingh.
The two others -- Mehedi Hasan alias Saikat, 22, and Nazrul Islam alias Jewel, 23, -- were held from a residence at Tejturi Bazar in the capital's Tejgaon.
Monir's associate Jewel had coordinated the shooting while Harun and Saikat, professional shooters, had made the attack on Shameem, a former Chhatra League president, the Rab official said.
A blurred footage captured by a CCTV camera at Ibn Sina building shows that three people on a motorcycle crossed the scene after the shooting.
Harun sat between the motorcycle driver, Rana, and Saikat. He fired one bullet at Shameem while Saikat fired two shots, the Rab media wing director said. Shameem received two bullets.
The driver is on the run, Habibur added.
According to Rab officials, the shooting occurred following Shameem's personal feud with a relative of Jasim, a business partner of Monir.
The relative has been working at Stamford University. He was locked in a feud with Shameem, founder and president of the board of trustees of the university, over his job transfer, a source preferring anonymity told The Daily Star without disclosing the relative's name.
Shameem, however, said by phone that he did not deal with the transfer of university stuff and so he had no clash with anyone in this regard. He also said he knew none of the detainees.
At Jasim's request, Monir agreed to carry out the attack on Shameem for Tk 1 lakh and hired Harun and Saikat at TK 20,000, Rab official Habibur said.
Monir is a close associate of alleged extortionist of Karwan Bazar Ashique and an accused in the case filed over the killing of a businessman of Tejgaon, Faroque. He has been on bail.
He managed two pistols for Harun and Saikat from Salah Uddin, organising secretary of Sher-e-Bangla unit Shramik League, a Rab official said.
Another attempt to shoot down Shameem had been made in front of his office just two days before the June 19 incident, Habibur said. Shameem escaped unhurt at the time because the gun misfired.
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