Trader murdered at Kamrangirchar

Wife of Abul Kashem, inset, a cement trader at Pakapool Bazar in the city's Kamrangirchar area, bursts into tears hearing news of her husband's murder yesterday.Photo: STAR

Criminals killed a trader and hung his body from the ceiling of his shop early yesterday at Pakapool Bazar in the city's Kamrangirchar area.
The deceased was identified as Abul Kashem, 42, proprietor of a cement store called Usha Traders.
Police recovered the body, which was hanging from the ceiling of the shop at about 10:00am said Abdul Karim, sub inspector of Kamrangirchar Police Station.
The victim's body bore several marks of injury on his chest and his mouth was gagged while both his hands were tied with a wire, he added.
The victim's wife Momtaz Begum Shanu told The Daily Star that Kashem returned home at 8:00pm on Friday and received a call on his cell phone an hour later.
Quoting the deceased, she said the unidentified caller claimed he had been paid Tk 2 lakh to kill Kashem. However, the caller said he would spare Kashem if he paid him Tk 5 lakh, she added.
He went to his shop again that night and was seen there till 11:00pm, according to sources.
“I called him after midnight but no one answered the phone,” said Shanu.
Yesterday, at around 6:30am one Hanif brought the news of Kashem's death by hanging himself, after which his mother, Marjina Begum along with some locals broke open the shop's shutters and found his lifeless body, she said.
Family feud over property may have been the cause of his death, alleged the victim's wife.
Kashem's father, Haji Isaak, who had been a local union parishad (UP) member for 20 years, was also murdered in 2001, she added.
Police sent the body to Sir Salimullah Medical College morgue for an autopsy.
The morgue said the scars were caused by a razor blade and suspects the victim died by hanging. However, since both his hands were tied behind his back someone else tied the noose around his neck, they suspect.
The deceased's family members have filed a case in connection to the incident.