Rab men arrest order reaches Narayanganj

Copies of the High Court order that had asked the government to arrest three former Rab officials in connection with the seven murders reached the offices of Narayanganj DC and SP today.

The deputy commissioner’s (DC) office received a copy of the order around 12:30pm, reports our Narayanganj correspondent quoting an office staff.

The order also reached the office of superintendent of police almost the same time.

The High Court yesterday ordered the government to immediately arrest the three former officials of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) for their alleged role in the abduction and killing of Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and six others.

The three -- Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander SM Masud Rana -- were withdrawn from Rab-11 on April 29, two days after the seven people were abducted from Adalatpara in the city.

Forced into retirement on May 6, they are now attached to the log area in Dhaka cantonment.

The court asked the inspector general of police to take steps to arrest them and hand over to the detectives investigating the case.

Among the trio, Tareque was the commanding officer of Rab-11 in Narayanganj when the abductions and killings took place.

He is the son-in-law of Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya. 

On April 27, Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and his four aides and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were kidnapped from Dhaka-Narayanganj link road around the same time in broad daylight. Six bodies, including that of Nazrul and Chandan, were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river on April 30, and another was found the following day.

The other victims are Swapan, Tajul Islam, Liton, Jahangir and Ibrahim.