Death sentenced fugitive arrested after 14 years

A 35-year-old man who was was sentenced to death in a case filed over a gang rape and murder was arrested today from Dhaka's Narayanganj, 14 years after the incident.

A team from Rapid Action Battalion-2 arrested Lokman around 11:30am, said Anwar Hossain Khan, commander of the battalion, addressing a briefing.

Lokman was hiding in different areas of the country after changing his name and he used to work as a day laborer, bus helper, and pick-up van driver for his livelihood, he said.

On August 11, 2009, Abdur Rahman, a resident of Gonganagar village of Rupganj Upazila of Narayanganj, locked into an altercation with his wife Khadiza Begum over family issues.

Centering the conflict, Rahman hired some criminals, including Lokman, for Tk 10 thousand to kill his wife.

The criminals then forcefully took Khadiza to a quiet place and raped her. As per the contract with her husband, the criminals killed Khadiza after the rape, said Rab officials.

Finally, the criminals asked Rahman to pay the contract money but he refused. Over the issue, the criminals then killed Rahman too and dumped both bodies in a pond of the village, the officials said.

Later the victim's father Anowar Hossain filed a murder and rape case against Lokman and six others with the Rupganj Police Station, said Anwar, also an additional deputy inspector general (DIG) of police.

On June 6 last year, the court awarded the death penalty to Lokman and other criminals.

Anwar said Rab-2 was looking for the absconding convicts since the verdict was delivered and was finally able to arrest Lokman.

"During the primary interrogation, Lokman admitted to his involvement with the murder and rape incident," added Anwar.