Murder of SP Babul’s wife similar to the ones carried out by Islamist radicals: Police

The murder of the wife of Babul Aktar, Superintendent of Police (SP), in Chittagong is similar to the killings carried out by extremists over the past two years, law enforcers have said, basing their conclusions on witness accounts and CCTV camera footage.

Uttam Sen Gupta Chittagong Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 5 June 2016, 02:14 PM
Updated : 5 June 2016, 02:14 PM

Three motorcycle-borne assailants murdered Mahmuda Aktar Mitu at around 6:45am on Sunday in front of Well Food near the GEC Intersection in the port city.

She was on her way to drop her 6-year-old son to school.

The attackers first stabbed her and then shot her in the head to make sure she was dead before fleeing. The entire operation was over within a minute, investigators said.

Police have started a case over the murder. Panchlaish Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Triratan Barua lodged it on Sunday night.

Several unknown persons have been accused in the case, Chittagong Metropolitan Police’s (CMP) Asif Mahmud told bdnews24.com.

CMP Deputy Commissioner (DC) (North) Paritosh Ghosh said the assailants had attacked Mahmuda in the presence of her son.

He said video footage from CCTV cameras installed at several nearby buildings confirmed the involvement of three assailants.

It seemed they had taken up position with the motorcycle quite some time earlier, he added.

“They stabbed Mahmuda Aktar at random and shot her in the head on the left side at point blank range. Then they fled on the motorcycle. We found three bullets, including two live ones, at the crime spot.”

Ghosh said one of the three killers was seen wearing a helmet.

Referring to the video footage, a Detective Branch (DB) official told bdnews24.com that the killers stood on one side of the street before Mahmuda appeared on the opposite.

“Footage showed that one of them hacked her with a machete-like sharp weapon and another one shot her. They took between 45 to 50 seconds to kill her.”

Babul Aktar, as additional deputy commissioner with the DB in Chittagong, had played a key role in nabbing top militants and led raids in the past two years, busting their hideouts in the southern coastal district.

The police officer was promoted to the rank of SP in April and transferred to Police Headquarters in Dhaka. But his wife, son and 4-year-old daughter lived in Chittagong. Babul reported for duty in the capital last Thursday.

It was Babul whose investigations led to the busting of a hideout of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the arrest of its military wing chief in October last year.

Since Babul was involved in counter-terrorism operations, police suspect militants hit back by killing his wife.

DB's DC Moktar Ahmed, however, said all aspects of the situation were being investigated.

Police officials said the contents of the video footage and the account of the incident given by the couple’s son, who witnessed his mother’s killing, matched.

The first-grader said the attackers first took him away from his mother and then one of them stabbed her with a knife before shooting her.

Kabir Hossain, Inspector, Police Bureau of Investigation, told bdnews24.com that the assailants had used a 7.65 bore pistol.

The modus operandi —motorcycle-borne assailants armed with sharp weapons and guns — bore a striking similarity with those of other murders in the last two years, for which police blame Islamist radicals.

A Rajshahi University teacher, a Hindu tailor in Tangail and Hindu priest in Panchagarh were killed in a similar way earlier this year.

There were three assailants in last year’s killings of a policeman in Ashulia and the attempted murder of an Italian priest in Dinajpur.

Police have found the JMB’s involvement in some of these killings and arrested some of its operatives.

A CMP official told bdnews24.com that the police were looking into the possible involvement of the banned militant outfits in Mahmuda’s murder.

DC Paritosh Ghosh said several units of police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were working to apprehend the killers.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, too, has pointed the finger at religious extremists. “Babul Aktar is an efficient officer and played a key role in apprehending militants. They killed his wife because they failed to get him.”

“The success rate in solving target killing cases is high. This incident has taken place to put an obstacle to that success,” he told reporters at SP Babul’s home at Chittagong’s OR Nizam Road on Sunday afternoon.

“I can strongly say that whatever the motive was of the killers, we will be able to arrest them very soon.”

Earlier, a helicopter had carried SP Babul Aktar to Dampara Police Lines from Dhaka. From there, he directly went to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where his wife’s body was kept.

A post-mortem on Mahmuda’s remains was carried at CMCH in the afternoon. A Namaz-e-Janaza was held at the Damparha Police Lines ground later.

Chittagong City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Awami League’s Chittagong metropolitan unit President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, top police and district administration officials attended it along with family and friends.

The family then started for Dhaka with Mahmuda’s body. On Monday, the remains will be taken to Jhenaidah where she will be buried at her in-laws.