Police explore publisher's link, Faruk on 3-day remand

Police are exploring a publishing house owner's link with the murder of writer Mumina Deyasini.
After the killing of the widow of Dhaka University professor Dr Sultan Ahmed, her relatives on Monday said that she was fighting a court battle with the publishing house owner over the royalty of one of her books. The hearing of the case was scheduled to be held the next day [yesterday], they added.
The victim's younger son Mainul Ahmed Jhinuk yesterday filed a murder case with Dhanmondi Police Station.
Mumina's distant relative Faruq Hossain, an English honours resident student at Dhaka College, following his capture by the security guards of the Dhanmondi apartment complex, confessed to killing Mumina over payment of a few hundred taka.
Monwar Hossain, officer in charge (OC) of Dhanmondi Police Station, told The Daily Star yesterday, "Although Faruq confessed to the killing for money, we will investigate to see whether Anwar Hossain has any involvement in the killing as the family members of the victim mentioned that there was a dispute between Mumina and Anwar."
Meanwhile, Dhanmondi police produced Faruq before a Dhaka court yesterday, seeking five days' remand for interrogation, but the court granted three days.
Mumina's domestic help Mamata, the 10-year-old witness to the crime, yesterday gave judicial statement before a magistrate.
Soon after the killing yesterday, Detective Branch (DB) personnel took Faruq to their office for preliminary interrogation. He was later handed over to Dhanmondi police.
The DB and Dhanmondi police said Faruq expressed his repentance to them during preliminary interrogation, saying that he lost his mind when he committed the murder.
"At first I wanted Tk 500. As aunty [Mumina] rejected, I wanted Tk 300. It made me angry when she told me to take Tk 20 and leave her house," they quoted Faruq as saying.
"At one stage, I threatened her saying that if she did not give me the money, I would kill her. Aunty smiled and said don't be mad. She got scared and screamed out when I exposed the knife. I then used the knife to kill her."
OC Monwar said, "We have quizzed Faruq from different angles, but he maintained that he killed her only for the money and no one engaged him to commit the murder."
Mumina Deyasini, former librarian of Udayan School and College in Dhaka and mother of two sons, died in her Dhanmondi apartment in the afternoon on Monday after her assailant gashed her throat with sharp weapon.
Soon after the killing, security guards of the apartment complex captured Faruq with blood on his hands while he attempted to flee. Police later recovered a bloodstained knife from underneath the building's elevator mat.
The elderly woman's younger son Jhinuk was at his office at Banani during the crime that was witnessed only by domestic help Mamata. Her older son lives in Russia.