JMB leader involved in doctor killing
A leader of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who according to police was involved in the murder of homeopath Sanaur Rahman was killed in a "gunfight" with police in Kushtia Sadar upazila early yesterday.
SM Moniruzzaman, deputy inspector general (DIG) of police of Khulna range, made the claim at a press briefing in Kushtia after the death of JMB's regional commander Tulu Mollah, 33, of Khajanagar village in the upazila.
He also said JMB was behind the murder of secular homeopath Sanaur on May 20 this year.
According to a statement read out by the DIG, JMB cadres killed Sanaur and injured Saifuzzaman, a teacher of Bangla department of Islamic University, who was with Sanaur during the attack.
There were deep gashes on the heads, shoulders and chests of the victims, likely to have been caused by machetes. The attack had similarities with previous attacks on bloggers and secular activists across the country.
The divisional police chief claimed that police recovered a smart phone from the scene. After investigation based on the mobile phone call records, police arrested three JMB men Azizul, Saiful and Zoynal from a hideout in Kushtia town on Saturday. They were now on remand.
During interrogation, the trio admitted that the JMB was involved in the killing of Sanaur. They also mentioned Tulu as the regional commander of the outfit and said Tulu was involved in the murder.
The statement said Tulu came into contact with JMB's operation commander Abu Musa alias Robin alias Talha when he worked at a rice mill in Pabna's Sujanagar in 2015.
They agreed to start the activities of JMB in Kushtia. Musa used to frequent the house of Tulu in Khajanagar.
"They had planned to kill some secular people in Kushtia,” the DIG said.
As per the plan, they first targeted Sanaur.
Led by Musa, JMB collected some cadres to carry out the operation. The others are Azizul, Saiful, Saijuddin, Bikash, Shafiul, Kabir and Zoynal, the DIG said.
On May 20, three youths aged between 25 and 30 ambushed Sanaur and Saifuzzaman at a secluded place in Bottoil area of the Sadar upazila when they were going to Sanaur's village home on a motorbike.
The assailants forced them to get down from the vehicle and hacked them repeatedly. Sanaur died on the spot.
Locals said Sanaur was an ardent lover and promoter of Baul philosophy. Known to the villagers as Sana Daktar (doctor), he gave free treatments and homeopathy medicine to the poor for free.
DECEASED'S FAMILY CLAIM
Family members of Tulu claimed that they had no information of his links with any militant group.
An uncle of Tulu, who preferred not to be named, said Tulu was out of touch with his relatives for a year.
A cousin of Tulu who received his body from police said some unknown people often visited Tulu.
Talking to this correspondent, Abdul Momin Mondol, chairman of Bottoil union, said Tulu's activities were suspicious as he often said "Jihad means arms struggle and it is the key in Islam".
'GUNFIGHT'
After gleaning information from three arrested JMB activists Azizul, Saiful and Zoynal, a team of Kushtia Detective Branch of police raided the hideout of JMB regional chief Tulu around 3:30am.
The detectives had information that militants were holding a meeting there. They cordoned off the spot, said Sabbirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kushtia DB.
Sensing the law enforcers' presence, the militants opened fire, forcing them to retaliate which triggered a “gunfight”, he claimed.
After the gun battle, the detectives found Tulu lying on the spot and sent him to Kushtia General Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Others managed to flee, he added.
Police claimed to have recovered a foreign pistol, two bullets, three sharp weapons and some cartridges from the spot.
Police also claimed that four detectives were injured in the incident and took treatment at the hospital.
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