Driver killed over affair, dumped with SUV on Padma

Police yesterday recovered the body of a driver from inside an SUV on the bank of the Padma in Kushtia's Kumarkhali, and a woman admitted to killing him with her husband over an affair.

Samrat Hossain, 29, chauffeur for a high official of a contractor of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, was a resident of Alhaz Camp village under Pabna's Ishwardi upazila. He was last seen alive on Thursday, police said.

In primary interrogation, Seema Khatun told officers that she and her husband Abdul Momin had killed Samrat by hitting him in the head with a hammer, said Arbinda Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi Police Station.

Police first went to Momin and Seema's home in Basherbada area of Ishwardi yesterday morning after a vehicle rental company reported a missing SUV and a driver, he said, adding that officers learnt that Samrat's last known location was that house.

Police found only Seema at home and detained her early in the morning.

Later in the day, Masud Alom, additional superintendent of police in Pabna, said, "Seema admitted to killing Samrat with her husband at her home around 10:00pm on Thursday.

"Seema's husband Momin is also a driver by profession. After the killing, the couple put the body in a sack and took it to the vehicle. Then, they drove for around 30 kilometres and left the vehicle on the bank of Padma."

It seems the motive behind the murder is an affair, he said, adding that police are looking for Seema's husband Momin.

The SUV Samrat used to drive is owned by a rental company named RDB. It was used by NIKIMT-Atomstroy, a construction firm working at the nuclear power plant, said police.

The victim used to chauffeur for a high official of the firm, said Mohsin Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kumarkhali Police Station.

On Thursday, Samrat dropped off the official at work and then went missing.

The next day, owner of the rental service, Anisur Rahman, reported the matter to Ishwardi Police Station, said OC Arbinda.

Yesterday morning, residents of the remote Char Sadipur area called police after noting a strong stench coming out of a white vehicle left on the bank for over a day.

Kumarkhali police then rushed to the spot and recovered the body, the OC said, adding that the body was handed over to Ishwardi Police Station after autopsy at Kushtia General Hospital morgue.

[Our correspondents from Pabna and Kushtia contributed to the report.]