Cops file charge sheet against 7
Police last night submitted charge sheet to a Dhaka court against seven people, including BNP leader MA Quayum, in the murder case of Italian national Cesare Tavella.
“The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police submitted the charge sheet against Quayum, his brother Matin and five others,” Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of DMP, told The Daily Star.
This newspaper could not verify the development with the court.
Tavella, an aid worker, was killed in the capital's Gulshan Diplomatic Zone on September 28 last year. Barely a week after, Japanese national Kunio Hoshi, a farmer, was shot to death at Alutari village of Kaunia upazila in Rangpur on October 3.
Quayum is a joint convener of the BNP's Dhaka city unit and also a former ward commissioner of the erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation.
Five others named in the charge sheet are Tamjid Ahmed Rubel, Russell Chowdhury, Minhajul Arefin, also known as Bhagne Russell, Sohel alias Bhangari Sohel, supplier of firearms, and Shakhawat Hossain Sharif, who provided the motorcycle used in the killing, said detectives.
Quayum and Sohel are on the run while five others are behind bars.
Middle East-based Islamic State claimed responsibility for both the attacks, according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities worldwide. The claims, however, were rejected by the police and the home minister.
The attacks raised concern about the security of foreign nationals, prompting some countries to issue travel alerts to their citizens about trips to Bangladesh.
Investigators said Quayum had planned the murder of Tavella as part of a conspiracy to create anarchy, put pressure on the government and send a message to foreigners that they were not safe in Bangladesh.
Quayum's brother Matin hired three killers to kill a “white man” (foreigner) and Tavella became their prey, they added.
Police are yet to recover the firearms used in the killing.
Family members of the arrestees earlier claimed that they were innocents and were forced to give statements to a Dhaka court under torture.
After his name surfaced as the mastermind, Quayum had told The Daily Star from Malaysia that he was victimised because of his political identity.
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