The traders were returning to their neighbourhood after buying vegetables from the wholesale market in Manikganj’s Jaagir.
Detective Branch given charge of cases over murders of Xulhaz, Tonoy
The Detective Branch has been given the cases over the murders of gay-rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his theatre activist friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy after police’s failure to arrest any suspect within 48 hours.
Published : 27 April 2016, 05:58 PM
Updated : 27 April 2016, 05:58 PM
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner Maaruf Hossain Sarder said the cases were handed over to DB on Wednesday afternoon.
He said DB’s Dhaka metropolitan north zone was tasked with the investigation into the murders that took place at USAID official Mannan’s flat in Kalabagan on Monday, two days after the killing of Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee.
The murders have occurred at a time when there is still no headway in investigations into the recent murders of a number of writers, online activists, and a publisher.
DB have been investigating almost all of these cases.
The US has expressed eagerness to help investigate the murder of Mannan and Tonoy.
Mannan had worked in the US embassy too.
Earlier, US agency Federal Bureau of Investigation provided help in the investigation into the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy, a naturalised citizen of the country.
Witnesses said the assailants of Mannan and Tonoy opened fire before fleeing, shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
A police official was injured when the police patrol in the area tried to stop the attackers. He managed to snatch a bag from them.
Police said ‘important evidence’ was found in the bag and from footage obtained from a CCTV camera of a nearby building.
The law enforcers, however, have not identified or arrested any suspect. Witness accounts suggest that the killers knew they would have to flee through a crowd of people and they were ready for that.
The forensics who conducted the post-mortem examinations think the killers were well-trained.
DMP Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Mia said in a media conference earlier on Wednesday police have obtained ‘more leads’.
“The investigation is now at its initial stage, but we can come to a conclusion within a few days,” he said.
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