Man who 'killed mother, son' held

Al Amin Johnny, one of the key accused in the Kakrail double murder case, stabbed Shamsun Nahar Karim and her son to death inside their residence on Wednesday, Rab claimed yesterday hours after his arrest.

After accomplishing the murders, Al Amin changed his blood smeared clothes in a nearby abandoned building and took shelter at a relative's house in Gopalganj's Moksedpur upazila. A Rab-3 team arrested him from there yesterday morning, Mufti Mahmud Khan, Rab's legal and media wing director, told reporters at a press conference in Rab media centre.

With Al Amin, all of the three named accused in the case -- Shamsun Nahar's husband businessman Abdul Karim and his third wife Sharmin Akter Mukta, also Al Amin's younger sister, were arrested. 

Quoting Al Amin, Mufti Mahmud Khan said he killed the woman and his son Sajjadul Karim Shaon, an “A” level student, as an act of revenge.  Al Amin stated that his sister attempted to commit suicide three to four days before the murders for, what he believed, was Shamusun Nahar's fault.

According to him, Karim, pressurised by his Shamsun Nahar, was preparing to divorce his sister.  A dispute arose between Karim and Mukta over the wealth issue since, as of their marriage in 2013, most of the wealth was owned by Shamsun Nahar, the Rab official said.

On the other hand, a mid-ranking DB official who interrogated the two other accused, told The Daily Star that Karim and Mukta planned to kill Shamsun Nahar during their trip to Rangamati six months ago as she used to “create problems” for them.

Lt Col Emranul Hasan, commanding officer of Rab-3, however, told The Daily Star that Al Amin may have given misleading information. The actual fact would come out when the three accused are interrogated face to face.

THE KILLING MISSION

Mufti Mahmud said Al Amin bought a sharp weapon from New Market with Tk 1100 on Tuesday.

The next evening, he went to Shamsun Nahar's house. Rashida Begum, a domestic help of the house, allowed him in. He then locked her inside the kitchen. He stabbed Shaon first several times and then asked him to be seated, saying he had no rivalry with him.

Then he entered the woman's room and started stabbing her. Shaon, despite being severely injured, tried to save his mother and Al Amin slit his throat. Bleeding profusely, Shaon ran out but collapsed on the staircases of the third floor.  

Al Amin's two fingers also sustained cuts during the scuffle. He later took treatment for the wounds at Dhaka Medical College Hospital using a fake name. On his way to Gopalganj, he dropped the blood smeared clothes in the Padma River.

The security guard of the building Abdullah Noman, who saw the killers fleeing, identified Al Amin after seeing his photographs, Mufti added.

Rab and detective officials said Shamsun Nahar was the target but Al Amin killed Shaon as he had witnessed the killings.

The bodies of the victims were buried at their village home in Munshiganj after a namaj-e-janaja in the city's Kakrail circuit house mosque.

Family members and friends demanded exemplary punishment for the killers.

Karim had divorced his second wife earlier.   

BADDA DOUBLE MURDER CASE

Police yesterday said nine-year-old Nusrat Jahan, a victim of Badda double murders, was suffocated to death as she had witnessed the killing of her father Jamil Sheikh.

Her mother, Arzina Begum, 30, in collusion with Shahin Malik,26, whom she was having an affair with, killed her husband. She first refused to kill Nusrat, but was convinced two hours later.

She held Nusrat down while Shahin suffocated her with a pillow. Before that, Shaheen had killed Jamil by hitting him on his head with a wooden staff, police officials said.

Mostaq Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Gulshan Division police, said the duo, after killing the father and daughter, planned to make it look like a robbery. They concocted a story of a group of robbers killing them and raping Arzina. Arzina even pretended to be a rape victim to her neighbours.

Police detained Arzina on Thursday, hours after recovering the bodies while Shahin, a construction worker and his wife Masuma, a domestic help, were picked up from Khulna on Friday.

The DC said Arzina had been having an extra-marital affair for the last four months that led to regular arguments with Jamil over trifle matters. “She wanted to go away and start a new life with Shahin,” Mostaq added.

Jamil was unaware of Arzina's relationship. As it was hard to manage the Tk 7000 monthly rent for their two-room loft, Arzina convinced her husband to take Shahin as a sublet tenant which gave her the scope to spend more time with Shahin in the absence of her husband, police said.      

As part of their plan of murdering Jamil, Arzina opened the door to let Shahin in on Thursday night. He hit Jamil, who was asleep at the time, on the head with the wooden staff. As Jamil woke up, Shahin confirmed his death with a second blow, the DC said. 

Jamil's daughter Nusrat woke up then and asked why her father was being attacked, said Mostaq, adding that “Arzina then took Nusrat outside as they had not planned to kill her.”

But according to police, Nusrat's question sealed her heinous fate.

Shahin later convinced Arzina to kill Nusrat so as not to have any witnesses. Arzina's son Alvi was spared as he was asleep.

DC Mostaq further said that they believe Shahin's wife Masuma, who was in another room in the same flat during the killings, was not aware of the murder scheme. She came to know after the murders took place and fled to Khulna to save her husband, he said.