‘They killed one to frame another’

The two accused arrested by CID on Monday in connection with the killing of UP member Hamidul Sharif in Gopalganj on December 12 murdered him as part of their plan to frame the local chairman, with whom one of them had previous enmity.

The Criminal Investigation Department revealed the information at a press briefing at its headquarters in the capital's Malibagh yesterday.

Hamidul (45), a member of Ward-7 of Gopinathpur Union Parishad, was shot dead on December 12 by masked miscreants.

The arrestees are -- prime accused Amir Molla (35), Robiul Sharif (57) and Sagar (35).

At yesterday's briefing, Imam Hossain, deputy inspector general of CID, said, "Amir and Robiul shot Hamidul to frame local chairman Lacchu Sharif."

"A few days back, Hamidul expressed his mistrust on Lacchu. Robiul thought that if Hamidul was killed, suspicion would fall on Lacchu… Meanwhile, Amir had previous enmity with the chairman as he earlier accused him in a kidnapping case," he added.

Robiul was arrested from Patuatuli in the capital on Monday, Amir from Jashore on Sunday night and Sagar from Gopalganj, the official said.

Talking about their investigation, the CID official said they first identified the motorcycle used during the incident.

The accused were later identified through the CCTV footage of a petrol pump and Rupsha Bridge toll plaza.

He said both Robiul and Amir live in Jashore. Robiul is from the same village as the slain UP member.

The official said Robiul collected weapons from a criminal in Jashore.

On the day of the incident, Amir stopped the rickshaw-van Hamidul was on near Gopinathpur High School around 7:30pm and fired four shots at point-blank range. They then fled to Jashore.

Rickshaw-van puller Sagar was shown arrested on suspicion. His involvement will be investigated, the official said.

Contacted, Gopinathpur Union Parishad Chairman Lachchu Sharif said he did not know Amir Molla. He said he did know Robiul Sharif, who lived next to Hamidul.

Lachchu, however, denied the allegation that Hamidul or any other UP member "mistrusted" him.

A murder case was filed with Gopalganj Sadar Police Station on December 14 over the incident. CID said they will continue their investigation to find out if there was any involvement of others.