Fugitive in mugging case stopped hiding to avoid murder charges
The man who police accused of killing a garment worker on January 22 in Jatrabari had not been staying at home for a long time as he was wanted in a mugging case.
But the accused, Md Arif, 28, started staying at home after he along with another man mugged Kholu Mia in the early hours of January 22, killing the victim.
Police said he returned home so that law enforcers could arrest him in the mugging case, which Arif hoped would help him avoid being arrested in a murder case.
The trick did not work and he is now shown arrested in the murder case filed with Jatrabari Police Station on January 23, AKM Hafiz Akhter, additional commissioner (crimes and operations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said at a press conference at the DMP media centre today.
"He wanted to avoid the murder charges, and so he stopped hiding from police to get arrested in the previous mugging case," he added.
"As police arrested him with a warrant, Arif told his mother over phone that police were not arresting him in any new case, but in a previous case. This was the main clue that helped law enforcers connect him to the murder," he said.
"Police later showed him [Arif] arrested in the murder case. [Following his arrest] a Dhaka court granted a three-day remand and police recovered the victim's mobile phone based on his statement," Hafiz said.
He gave a confessional statement before a magistrate, admitting his involvement in the murder.
Madhusudan Das, assistant commissioner of Demra Zone police, said two persons including Arif stabbed Kholu while mugging him after he arrived in Dhaka from Gaibandha around 3:30am on January 22.
"We are trying to arrest the other accused," Das, who led the drive, told The Daily Star.
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