Little known about motive, masterminds

Even though two months have passed since the murder of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of police superintendent Babul Akter, police are yet to unearth the motive behind the killing or arrest the prime suspect.

Initially, law enforcers said they suspect militant link to the murder considering the SP's previous roles against militants. Later, police changed the course of investigation and focused on nabbing one Kamrul Shikder alias Musa, a police source, identifying him as the prime suspect.

Musa, however, is still on the run though his wife has been claiming that police picked him up on June 22. Police refuted the claim.

On June 5, Mitu was stabbed and shot dead at GEC intersection in Chittagong city while she was walking her son to the school bus stop near their home.

Contacted, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Md Iqbal Bahar said there was still nothing new to mention.

Talking to The Daily Star over the phone, Bahar said the reason behind the killing was yet to be known, as the arrestees who confessed to taking part in the murder did not have any idea about it. They were hired by Musa to kill Mitu in exchange for money.

“The main point is Musa. If Musa can be held, there could be a good progress into the investigation,” hoped the CMP boss. He also said they were trying to nab Musa and already alerted bordering areas so that he could not flee the country.

Regarding the suspected militant link with the killing, the commissioner said no such link was found.

The Detective Branch of CMP has so far arrested seven people in connection with the murder case filed by Babul with Panchlaish Police Station. Babul accused three unidentified persons in the FIR.

The arrestees are Md Anwar, Motaleb Mia alias Wasim, Ehteshamul Haque Bhola, Md Shahjahan, Musa's elder brother Saidul Sikder Shakur, Md Shazaman alias Robin and Abu Nasar Gunnu.

During investigation, police did not find Robin and Gunnu's links with the murder, while five others were shown arrested with specific charges in the murder case, said police sources.

Two weeks after the incident, a rumour spread that police detained several persons in connection with the case. Denying arresting anybody, CMP high officials at that time said they detained some persons for interrogation.

At a press briefing on July 25, the CMP commissioner claimed that Wasim and Anwar were arrested.

The two in their confessional statements given before a Chittagong court on the same day mentioned the names of seven people, including Musa, Nabi, Rashed, Kalu and Shahjahan, who directly took part in the killing, police said.

Wasim stated that Musa hired them for the killing with the promise of a good amount of money and that they had no idea about the mastermind. They did not even know that the target was the wife of SP Babul.

In his statement, Wasim also named Bhola as the supplier of firearms.

On June 28, police said they arrested Bhola, 41, and one Monir Hossain. Monir was not shown arrested in the killing case, as his involvement could not be found, said police.

Monir and Bhola, however, were accused in an arms case filed with Bakalia Police Station over the murder.

According to the charge sheet on the arms case submitted on July 28, Musa and Wasim collected firearms from Bhola on the night before the murder. The arms were returned to Bhola after the killing.

On July 1, police said they arrested Shahjahan and Musa's brother Saidul Sikdar Sakur the previous night. However, hours before the police arrest, Musa's wife Panna Akter claimed to different media that police on June 22 picked up her husband and his brother Saidul from the port city's Kathgar area.

Two suspects -- Nurul Islam alias Rashed and Md Nurunnabi -- were killed in a “gunfight” between criminals and law enforcers in Rangunia upazila on July 5.  

On June 29, the CMP alerted all airports and land ports in the country so that five suspected accused -- Musa, Nurunnabi, Rashed, Shahjahan and Kalu -- cannot leave the country.

Regarding the whereabouts of Musa and Kalu, Md Kamruzzaman, an assistant commissioner of CMP DB and also the investigation officer of the case, said they were trying to arrest the two.