Case accusing six filed over Lalu murder

A case has been filed accusing six people of the murder of Swechchhasebak League's Shyampur union unit President Reazul Islam Lalu in Dhaka.

The prime suspect is local Ulama League unit General Secretary Nur Nabi Shaon, who according to Lalu's family, was the mastermind.

Lalu's wife Doly Begum lodged the case on Thursday evening at Kadamtali Police Station, said Sub-Inspector Shahidur Rahman.

However, police earlier in the day took Shaon, arrested on Wednesday, into a five-day remand for questioning.

The five other accused are 'Shawkat', 35, 'Abul', 35, 'Jahangir', 45, 'Motaleb', 34, and Kamal Shikdar, 45.

SI Rahman said they were trying to arrest them as well.

Assailants barged into Lalu’s shop at Shyampur’s Kala Miah Sardar Road and shot him dead on Wednesday evening.

His wife in the case details claimed Lalu's murder was planned and ciuld be traced backk to business and political conflicts.

The family has been pointing the finger at Shaon since the incident. Police arrested him over suspicion based on their allegations.

Rahman told bdnews24.com that they were questioning Shaon to know more about his ‘involvement in the murder’.

Both Swechchhasebak League and Ulama League are affiliate to the ruling Awami League.

Lalu ran a shop of building materials and Shaon has a similar business in the area.

Locals say there was bad blood between them for long over business and feud between the organisations.

They also claim that Shaon extorts money from the people of the area.

Asked to clarify the nature of dispute between the duo, Lalu’s brother-in-law ‘Mukul’ on Thursday told bdnews24.com: “You should ask the locals and then everything will become clear.”

Answering the same question, a resident of the area, Md Selim said no one would do business with Shaon because of his rude behaviour. He also charged higher for the building materials than others.

“People liked Lalu and bought everything from him. They also complained to him about Shaon. Shaon makes money from extortion, not business even though he has a shop.”

“My personal opinion is that no one but Shaon could have done this (the murder),” Selim said.

Mukul said, “Lalu had been trying to stop Shaon from extorting money. Lalu had recently objected to Shaon demanding Tk 1 million from someone.”

DMP’s Demra zone Senior Assistant Commissioner Mohiuddin Ahmed earlier told bdnews24.com that they were investigating the murder considering business dispute and extortion as motives.