Rony fired shots killing 2 on Apr 14

Police yesterday said the gunshots that killed a rickshaw-puller and an auto-rickshaw driver in the capital's New Eskaton on April 14 were fired by Bakhtiar Alam Rony.

“We have enough evidence to believe that it was Rony who had fired the shots,” said Monirul Islam, spokesperson for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

“There will be no issue in proving the case at the court,” he told a press briefing at the DMP headquarters.

Rony, son of ruling Awami League lawmaker Pinu Khan, claimed that he fired random shots in the air in a drunken rage “being frustrated over post-midnight traffic”.

Ballistic tests have confirmed that the gun, licensed to Rony, was used to fire shots leading to the death of the two people. Rony has been remanded thrice in the case.

Three friends of Rony and his driver in their statements before metropolitan magistrates said Bakhtiar lowered the window of his sport-utility vehicle after it got stuck in a traffic jam in New Eskaton, and fired four to five shots around 1:30am, hitting rickshaw-puller Abdul Hakim and CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Yakub Ali. They died in a hospital later.

Rony would be produced before a court today on expiry of his two-day remand, Monirul added.