It was murder

The former Rangunia Jubo League leader, found dead on Friday in his bedroom, was murdered by his wife's paternal aunt, who had an illicit affair with him, said police yesterday.

The accused, Jifu Begum, 35, gave a statement to the police admitting the premeditated murder after Rangunia police detained her on Saturday. She was detained based on information they gathered from primary investigation, Imtiaz Uddin Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of Rangunia Police Station told The Daily Star.

Police on Friday recovered the charred body of the victim -- Abul Hashem Bacha, 50, a former assistant secretary of Jubo League's Rangunia upazila unit -- from his house in Rangunia of the port city.

Jifu decided to kill Bacha as he had been threatening to post their intimate photos on the social media unless she married him. She however wanted to keep the relationship discreet, OC Imtiaz said quoting her.

As a means to save her family and herself from the embarrassment of the extramarital affair, “Jifu decided to finish off Bacha,” Imtiaz said.

According to the plan, when Bacha was home alone, she spent the night with him and at one stage, she rendered him unconscious by doping his food with sleeping pills.

Jifu then gathered Bacha's clothes, placed those on his unconscious body and lit up a fire, Jifu said in her statement.

In order to make it appear as an accidental gas fire, she brought an LP (liquefied petroleum) gas cylinder into the bedroom from the kitchen and left the house after locking the door from outside, OC Imtiaz quoted her as saying.

Victim's wife Razia Sultana filed a case yesterday, accusing unknown persons for the killing of her husband.