Lalmonirhat Lynching: Police yet to track down key suspect
Eight days into the brutal killing of Abu Yunus Md Shahidunnabi Jewel in the district's Patgram upazila, police are yet to arrest Abul Hossain who allegedly first spread the rumour about desecration of the Holy Quran by the victim.
Yesterday, police picked up two more people, accused in the Jewel murder case, from Burimari village in the same upazila. The two are Abu Naeem and Abdul Gani.
With them, a total of 23 people, including 11 teenagers, have so far been arrested over the murder.
Patgram OC Sumon Kumar Mohanta said they were looking for Abul Hossain. He said they were probing how the teenagers got involved in the murder.
Meanwhile, a Lalmonirhat court yesterday placed four other arrestees on three-day remand each after the Detective Brach of police produced them before it seeking five-day remand for each.
Among the four are Jobed Ali, khadem of Burimari Jame Mosque, Anwar Hossain, Rabiul Islam, and Mehedi Hasan.
Jewel, 50, from Shalban Mistripara area of Rangpur city, was beaten up and burnt to death by a mob in Burimari village on October 29 over the rumour.
Abul Hossain, who allegedly first spread the rumour, owns a decorator store at Burimari Bazar. He was active in Awami League politics 10 years ago. Later, he became involved in the politics of Jamaat-e-Islami, said villagers.
The 44-year-old went into hiding after the murder incident. His cellphone is switched off now.
Police said probes by the National Human Rights Commission, the Lalmonirhat district administration, intelligence agencies and investigating officers found that Abul spread the rumour.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Abul's wife Jharna Begum yesterday said her husband parted ways with the AL about 10 years ago.
"I don't know where my husband is now. He has many relatives in India. We could not contact him since the murder incident."
Claiming her husband to be a pious man, Jharna said she was not sure whether her husband was guilty of committing the murder.
Of the 23 people arrested so far, nine are now on remand and the rest behind bars.
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