Attack on Ghoraghat UNO: Burglary it was?
A suspect said he and others broke into the home of Ghoraghat UNO Wahida Khanam with the intention to steal property, but officers believe that the actual motive behind the gruesome attack was unclear.
One of the three arrestees, Asadul Huq, 40, told Rab officers yesterday that another arrestee, Nabirul Islam, masterminded the burglary and he was the one who hit Wahida and her father.
Reza Ahmed Ferdous, commanding officer of Rab-13, told reporters at a briefing in Rangpur last night that an in-depth investigation would be needed to know the actual motive.
Asadul told interrogators that they broke into the officer's house to loot cash and valuables.
"It is Asadul's claim and we do not have enough information to come to a conclusion. We need an in-depth investigation," Reza Ahmed said.
Rab arrested Asadul, Nabirul and Shantu Kumar Biswas in connection with Thursday's attack on the UNO and her father, freedom fighter Omar Ali Sheikh.
Asadul is a member of Ghoraghat upazila unit of ruling Awami League's youth front Jubo League, said AL party sources. The two other arrestees are both painters by profession.
Jubo League has cancelled Asadul's membership soon after his arrest in Banglar Hilly area of Dinajpur on Thursday.
Meanwhile, critically injured Wahida partially gained consciousness after a surgery on her brain on Thursday night. Although her condition is stable, she is not out of danger yet, according to doctors.
Police on Thursday said unknown assailants broke into Wahida's official residence in the early hours and attacked her and her father, who came visiting from Naogaon. They were hit with a hammer.
Critically injured Wahida was airlifted from a hospital in Rangpur city and admitted to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital on Thursday afternoon.
"...She is communicating sometimes; her blood pressure, oxygen level and pulse are stabilising," Dr Uzzal Kumar Mallik, assistant professor (ICU), told The Daily Star yesterday afternoon.
A medical board will sit today to discuss the condition of the UNO and the possible next steps for her treatment, he said.
The Rab-13 CO yesterday said the attackers entered the official residence of the UNO cutting open the ventilator of a first-floor bathroom.
Rab started a shadow investigation after the wounded UNO's brother filed a case over the attack with Ghoraghat Police Station, he said.
The CO said Asadul was arrested first and Nabirul was the key planner.
He said Asadul and Nabirul were accused in multiple cases. The arrestees will be handed over to police.
In CCTV footage, a lanky man in a red t-shirt was seen. Asadul admitted to Rab that the man in the t-shirt was him.
The CO added that Rab would take legal action against the accused.
He said Rab detained six other people and two of them had been released.
Jahangir Alam, convener of Ghoraghat Upazila Jubo League, was one of them.
He also said they brought Jahangir for interrogation on some specific intelligence. He, however, did not share the intelligence with journalists.
The Rab official, however, said Jahangir and others who will be allowed to go after interrogation will be under surveillance until the investigation reaches a conclusion.
The Rab captain further said that efforts were underway to arrest anyone else involved in the attack.
'ATTACKERS WILL NOT BE SPARED'
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said, "The attackers will not be spared, no matter to which party they belong."
Speaking in a video conference from his residence, Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, said the government has taken all measures for the proper treatment of Wahida.
Echoing a similar view, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said the government was looking into the incident and was giving it the highest importance.
It will take more time to know why and how such an incident took place, he told journalists at his Dhanmondi residence.
A three-member probe committee, formed to investigate the incident, was asked to submit the report as early as possible. Jakir Hossain, additional divisional commissioner of Rangpur, is head of the committee.
Wahida was supposed to visit the Dugdugi Haat in the upazila on Thursday to demolish an illegal structure, erected by lease owner of the haat and his supporters, locals said. But that was not to be.
Around 10 days ago, she had sent police to stop erecting the structure, locals also said.
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