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Published : 15 Nov 2025, 01:02 PM
The Rapid Action Battalion says it has begun piecing together how Ashraful Haque, a businessman from Rangpur, was lured to Dhaka and murdered, after his dismembered body was discovered inside a blue plastic drum near the High Court.
Following the arrest of one suspect, RAB has detailed how the victim’s friend, Jarezul Islam, allegedly brought him to the capital by using his lover as bait.
According to the RAB, Jarezul planned to extort Tk 1 million from Ashraful by convincing his lover Akhter Kohinur to ensnare him romantically. But investigators say they still have “no clear idea” why he was murdered instead of being extorted.
RAB officers say they have obtained information only about the extortion plot from the arrested Shamima Akhter Kohinur, and that more details about any additional motive will depend on statements from Jarezul.
Detective Police said on Friday night that they had arrested Jarezul, the key suspect, from Daudkandi in Cumilla in connection with the killing.
Initially, investigators suggested the murder may have been linked to an illicit affair and said fuller details would be presented at a media briefing on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier on Saturday morning, the RAB briefed the media at its Karwan Bazar headquarters, outlining what they discovered about Jarezul’s ‘lover’ Shamima, who was arrested on Friday from her family home in Laksam, Cumilla.
Police retrieved the dismembered remains -- cut into 26 pieces -- from inside a blue drum near the gate of the National Eidgah ground beside the High Court on Thursday evening.
The body’s identity could not be determined at first, but fingerprints matched the national identity database. The victim was identified as Ashraful of Nayapara village in Gopalpur Union, Badarganj, Rangpur.
Ashraful’s sister filed a case with Shahbagh Police on Friday. Police said Jarezul, described as a friend of the victim, was their “prime suspect”.
At Saturday’s briefing, Lt Col Faizul Arefin, commanding officer of RAB-3, said Jarezul and Shamima had been in a romantic relationship for about a year. Recently, he told her that one of his friends could be trapped in a staged romance, filmed in compromising situations and blackmailed for Tk 1 million.
They allegedly agreed that Jarezul would take Tk 700,000 while Shamima would receive Tk 300,000.
Shamima began speaking to Ashraful about a month earlier, attempting to draw his interest, and the two spoke regularly via audio and video calls, according to the RAB.
Lt Col Arefin said, on Tuesday evening, Jarezul left for Dhaka with Ashraful. The following day, they met Shamima and checked into a rented flat in Nurpur, Shanir Akhra, costing Tk 5,500. There, Jarezul and Shamima discussed filming Ashraful in compromising situations and using the footage to demand Tk 1 million.
Calling the scheme “a kind of honeytrap”, Lt Col Arefin said that on Wednesday afternoon, Jarezul gave Ashraful a malt drink mixed with sleeping pills. RAB says they recovered video footage of that moment from Shamima’s phone.
He said, although the plan was to blackmail him, Jarezul tied Ashraful’s hands with rope while he was unconscious and sealed his mouth with tape. At one point, he began striking him repeatedly with a hammer.
Lt Col Arefin said Ashraful died in the flat due to the severe blows and because he could not breathe with his mouth taped. Jarezul and Shamima stayed in the same room with the body that night.
On Thursday morning, Jarezul allegedly bought a machete and a drum from a nearby market. The RAB said he then dismembered Ashraful into 26 pieces and packed the remains inside the drum.
Around 2:45pm, they hired a CNG vehicle and carried the drum. At about 3:15pm, they left it near the High Court Mazar gate before fleeing. RAB says CCTV footage captured their movements.
Afterwards, Jarezul told Shamima to return to her home in Cumilla, saying he would travel to Rangpur, the RAB commander said
Based on Shamima’s information, the RAB says it recovered bloodstained white clothing, including a kurta-payjama, along with rope, tape, a round-neck vest and a pair of half pants used during the killing, from the Nurpur area.
Asked about the motive, Lt Col Arefin said the primary purpose appeared to be extortion through blackmail, according to Shamima. But he added that investigators still need to question Jarezul to determine whether previous hostility or revenge also played a role.
“We will know the core motive if we wait a little,” he said. “Given the brutality, it does not seem normal to us that it happened without revenge or rage.”
