Suspect in murder of SP Babul’s wife out on bail

A suspect in the 2016 murder of former senior police officer Babul Aktar’s wife has been released from jail on bail.

Sayedul Alam Sikder alias Sakku was released from the Chittagong Central Jail on Monday after securing bail from the High Court.

“He was released in the evening after the court’s order was verified,” Jailer Mujibor Rahman.

On the morning of Jun 5 last year, Babul’s wife Mahmuda Aktar Mitu was stabbed multiple times before being shot in the head near her home in Chittagong city.

Three men, riding a motorcycle, had attacked her while she was on her way to drop her six-year-old son to a bus stop for school.

Babul, who had been promoted a few days before the murder and posted at the Bangladesh Police headquarters in Dhaka, started a case against unidentified people.

Before being transferred to the headquarters, Babul served as an additional deputy commissioner with the Chittagong Detective Branch, when he played a key role in nabbing militants and raids.

The probe initially focused on the theory that militants might have hit back by killing the police officer’s wife, but investigators now considering that it might not be the motive of the murder.

Police arrested six people within a month of the murder. Two other suspects were killed in what law enforcers described as ‘shootouts’.

But Kamrul Islam Sikder alias Musa, who police say masterminded the murder, and one 'Kalu', who allegedly took part in the killing, are yet to be caught, according to the law enforcers.

Police say Musa had worked as an informant for Babul during his Detective Branch stint in Chittagong.

Sakku, who is now out on bail, is Musa’s brother.

On Jul 1 last year, police said they arrested Sakku, who provided with the motorcycle to the assailants.