Police crack Pahartoli murder mystery by tracing a mobile phone call

Police have arrested a woman in connection with the murder of her husband in Pahartoli four days earlier.

The 23-year-old Mosammat Asha Akhtar was arrested in Bogura and brought to Chattogram on Wednesday morning.

Her husband Md Shamim, a 29-year-old cook, was found dead in a house in Pahartoli’s Abdul Ali Nagar Nesaria Madrasa area on Feb 16.

According to police, Asha committed the crime in a fit of rage after finding out that her husband was also married to another woman and was having several other affairs.

Police located the 23-year-old resident of Thanthania Para of Bogura Sadar Upazila after going through the mobile phone records of Shamim, said Pahartoli Police Station OC Sadip Das.

“This was a murder case without any clues. Even though a blood-stained knife was found at the crime scene, we didn’t find the deceased's mobile phone there,” he told bdnews24.com.

The 23-year-old Asha Akhtar was brought to Chattogram on Wednesday morning after her arrest in Bogura. She is a resident of Thanthania Para of Bogura Sadar Upazila.

Shamim, a resident of Chattogram’s Khulshi Dhebar Par area, met Asha on Facebook. The two got married about a year ago.

“Asha took Shamim’s mobile phone after the murder. She disposed of the device in the streets of Dhaka," the OC said.

Shamim had been renting the house where his body was found. He had made a phone call to his landlord’s daughter before his death, according to the police.

“We traced that phone call to locate his family and eventually his wife Asha.”

After confirming her identity, police arrested Asha at her workplace on Tuesday.

“Asha said that she found out about her husband’s first wife six months into their marriage. He also had two children with her. She alleged that Shamim was also involved with several other women and would send her ‘intimate pictures’ of himself with his partners,” said OC Sadip.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kusum Dewan disclosed the details of the case in a media brief on Wednesday.

“Shamim didn’t tell Asha about his first wife and children at the time of their marriage. Even though Shamim was supposed to move permanently to Bogura after his marriage, he would often go back to Chattogram,” said the deputy commissioner.

During interrogation, Asha said she had borrowed Tk 65,000 from an NGO and bought Shamim an easy bike in an effort to keep him in Bogura. Before that Shamim took Tk 30,000 from her.

According to police, Shamim had rented the house in Chattogram two days before his death. On the morning of Feb 16, he picked up Asha from Bogura and brought her to the house.

“Asha slit his throat with a knife while he was asleep,” said Kusum.