Freedom Fighter Killing: Not a robbery but murder plotted by son

Abdul Halim, a 72-year-old freedom fighter, was the victim of a planned murder that was executed by his son, who then tried to mislead the investigators by staging the crime scene to look like a robbery, police said yesterday.

On February 1, police recovered Halim's body from his home in Narayanganj's Fatullah.

Afterwards, Masud stated that robbers broke in, tied him up, and killed his father before escaping with cash and jewellery.

Police found the place ransacked, but, did not find any signs of breaking and entering.

Later, it was discovered that Masud had hired a killer, Rubel, and together they strangled Halim in his sleep, stole cash from the cupboard, and ransacked the room.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) unravelled the murder mystery after arresting Rubel and recovering the missing CCTV footage.

Rubel used to help the family out with household work from time to time.

"Masud planned the murder to steal Tk 30 lakh that his father withdrew from the bank recently," Monirul Islam, superintendent of PBI in Narayanganj, told a press briefing at the PBI headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.

He said that after Halim was murdered, Masud instructed Rubel to tie him up so that it looked like a robbery.

On Saturday, a PBI team arrested Rubel, who was in hiding, from his sister's house in the capital's Jatrabari.

He gave a confessional statement before a magistrate, revealing Masud's involvement in the murder.

PBI is now trying to arrest Masud, Monirul said.

The PBI official said Masud hired Rubel for Tk 5 lakh to help him kill his father at his home in Fatullah's Dharmaganj Maula Bazar area.

As part of his plan, Masud kept the gate of the building, as well as the entrance to the flat open on the night of January 31.

Rubel entered the house around 10:00pm. The two of them went into Halim's room when he fell asleep around 11:00pm.

Masud held down his father with a mosquito net while Rubel began strangling Halim. As Halim screamed for help, Rubel smothered him by pressing a pillow to his face.

Later, Masud took his father's pulse to confirm his death.

He then stole the money from the cupboard and gave Tk 5 lakh to Rubel and handed the CCTV storage drive to him to destroy it.

As per the plan, Rubel then tied up Masud's hands and legs and went into hiding after burying the storage drive under a pile of garbage next to the house.

The PBI said they seized Tk 4.43 lakh from Rubel's possession during the drive and based on his information they also recovered the storage drive from the spot.