After informing of the arrests of two ‘killers’ of Mahmuda Aktar Mitu in Chittagong, police are not yet eager to speak about the issues of the ‘discussion’ with her husband SP Babul Aktar.
Published : 27 Jun 2016, 01:44 AM
The decorated police officer was picked up from the house of his father-in-law in Dhaka and ‘questioned’ in the Detective Branch office after Friday midnight, which led to rumours that he was arrested.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Saturday morning told bdnews24.com that Babul was being questioned in front of some suspects.
Babul firmly dismissed the rumours after he returned in the afternoon.
On Sunday, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said there was ‘no scope for misinterpretation as Babul’s questioning was nothing but a part of the natural process of investigation’.
Chittagong police Commissioner Iqbal Bahar is not ready to call it ‘interrogation’.
“I am not ready to call it interrogation of the plaintiff. There can be and will be discussions with the plaintiff for a long time. There is no scope to call it interrogation,” he said at a media conference in Chittagong on Sunday.
Asked why Babul was ‘questioned’ in Dhaka, Bahar said, “Such discussion with the plaintiff can take place anywhere.”
He said Babul was being given security after the incident. “There is no scope to misinterpret it,” he added.
He, however, did not reply to queries on who ‘discussed’ the case with Babul and what the issues of the ‘discussion’ were, citing the investigation was under way.
Babul, now working as a superintendent in Police Headquarters, had headed several successful drives against militancy in Chittagong. Police said they emphasised involvement of militants in investigating the murder of his wife.
Babul has been staying in his father-law’s house at Banasree in Dhaka since his wife was shot and stabbed to death in Chittagong on June 5.
CCTV footage showed the killers fleeing on a motorcycle after the murder.
Babul’s father-in-law Mosharraf Hossain, a retired police officer, said Khilgaon Police Station OC Moinul Hossain and DMP Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain took his son-in-law away at Friday midnight.
The SP’s relatives became concerned when neither Babul nor the related police officers took their phone calls until he returned on Saturday afternoon.
CMP Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Md Kamruzzaman is investigating the case filed by Babul over the murder of his wife.
DMP DB Deputy Commissioner Mahbub Alam told bdnews24.com the CMP commissioner took permission to use a room at the DB headquarters in Dhaka to speak to Babul on Friday night.
Babul’s relatives said the police officer was reluctant to speak about the ‘discussion’ at the DB office. They also said they doubt the ‘confusing’ reports based on the rumours.
Police at first had suspected that Islamist militants were behind Mahmuda’s murder.
Also, a number of murders in similar fashion had been carried out across the country in recent months.
But, after arresting ‘Wasim’ and ‘Anwar’, police are now saying that the murder was carried out by ‘professional killers’.
Commissioner Bahar said, “The killers are members of an organised gang. The two arrestees are professional killers.”
Asked who ordered the hit, he said, “We’ll find out gradually who gave the order to carry out the murder.”
But the CMP chief did not want to eliminate the possibility of militants’ involvement just yet. “It was a target killing. But we can’t confirm the motive yet.”
He claimed they were getting ‘much information’ from Wasim and Anwar, but did not want to disclose anything until the investigation was complete.
Asked whether Babul was under surveillance, Bahar shot back, “Why should we keep the plaintiff under surveillance?”
He added, however, that “if any allegations (against Babul) turn out to be true after investigation, then there are provisions to initiate measures.”