OC Rafique's name dropped from charge sheet

Dropping the name of prime accused suspended officer-in-charge (OC) AKM Rafiqul Islam from the charge sheet, detective branch (DB) of police yesterday pressed charges against eight people for killing college student Kamrul Islam Momin in September 2005.
DB Inspector Forman Ali, who is also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet against the accused to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court, Dhaka showing 24 people as prosecution witnesses.
The chargesheeted accused are Hasibul Haq Jony, Tareq alias Zia, Babu alias 'Thotkata' Babu, Shakhawat Hossain alias Jewel, Mohammad Jafar, Habibur Rahman Taj, Sharif Uddin and Monir Hawlader. Of them, Monir is on the run while the rest are now in jail custody.
The IO dropped names of 20 others as their involvement with the murder was not proved.
The charge sheet will be placed before the court on March 23 for its acceptance.
The CMM's Court on July 22 last year ordered reinvestigation into the matter after Momin's father filed a naraji (no-confidence) petition against the charge sheet submitted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
On May 13 last year, CID submitted the probe report dropping OC Rafique's name from the charge sheet, as his involvement with killing was not proved.
Momin, 18, a Commerce College student, was killed by a gang of criminals in front of his house at Kafrul when he was going to college on September 13, 2005.
Following the incident, Momin's father Abdur Razzak had filed a murder case with Kafrul Police Station against OC Rafiq and 25 others.
On October 16, 2005, prime accused Rafiq was sent to jail after he surrendered to a Dhaka court seeking ad interim bail in connection with the killing. He has been in jail custody since then.