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Published : 15 Nov 2025, 04:53 PM
Detective Branch officers say the killing of Rangpur businessman Ashraful Haque, whose dismembered body was found stuffed in two blue plastic drums near the High Court, stemmed from a “love-related dispute”, based on the account provided by the key suspect Jarezul Islam.
Their claim differs markedly from the Rapid Action Battalion’s comments earlier on Saturday. RAB had said at a press briefing that Jarezul intended to extort Tk 1 million from Ashraful by “using his girlfriend as bait”.
According to the RAB, the woman, Shamima Akhter, who was arrested earlier, told investigators the plan involved luring Ashraful to Dhaka.
The RAB, however, said they had “no clear idea” why the extortion plot escalated into murder and were waiting for Jarezul’s statement to confirm the motive.
Jarezul was arrested on Friday night in Daudkandi, Cumilla, by the Detective Branch.
At a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Saturday afternoon, DMP Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam said: “This is essentially the story of a love triangle.”
Police recovered the dismembered body from two blue plastic drums near the National Eidgah gate beside the High Court on Thursday evening.
The identity of the body, cut into 26 pieces, was confirmed by matching fingerprints preserved on the national ID database. The victim Ashraful was a resident of Nayapara village in Gopalpur Union of Badarganj, Rangpur.
Ashraful’s sister filed a case with Shahbagh Police on Friday. Police had named Jarezul, a "friend" of Ashraful, as the prime suspect.
The detectives arrested Jarezul, while RAB arrested his girlfriend, Shamima.
The DMP’s DB chief Shafiqul Islam said Jarezul, who returned to Bangladesh from Malaysia about a month and a half ago, met Shamima, a resident of Cumilla, on social media, developing a romantic relationship with her.
Shamima received Jarezul at Dhaka airport when he returned home, he said.
Jarezul’s wife discovered his involvement with Shamima and sought help from their close friend, Ashraful.
“Jarezul’s wife gave Shamima’s number to Ashraful and requested him to tell her to leave her husband alone. While pursuing Shamima, Ashraful fell in love with her,” Shafiqul said.
Ashraful and Shamima then allegedly planned to send Jarezul to Japan, equally sharing the travel cost of Tk 1.4 million, police said.
Shamima asked the friends to come to Dhaka to process the Japan travel and collect the money. The two friends left for Dhaka last Tuesday, according to police.
Shamima received the friends at Sayedabad the next morning and took them to a rented apartment in Shonir Akhra.
“To spend time alone, Jarezul and Shamima mixed sleeping pills in juice and gave it to Ashraful, but he did not fall asleep. Whenever Ashraful tried to get intimate with Shamima, Jarezul objected, leading to arguments,” said Shafiqul.
At one point, Jarezul left the flat, accidentally taking Ashraful’s phone. He had decided to go home but had to return to pick up the phone.
“When he came back, Shamima told him Ashraful was asleep. When she touched him to check, Ashraful woke up. Jarezul hid,” said Shafiqul.
Shafiqul said Shamima tied Ashraful’s hands with a rope at one point.
Then Jarezul came out from his hiding and hit Ashraful on the knee with a hammer.
Shamima stuffed a scarf into his mouth when Ashraful screamed, wrapping his mouth with scotch tape. After a while, they saw Ashraful had stopped moving -- he was dead, police said.
The DB chief said the pair stayed with the body overnight.
On Thursday morning, they bought two drums and other materials, cut the body into 26 pieces, packed them into the drums, and covered them with rice.
“They took the drums by CNG and left them near the High Court before heading to Sayedabad,” said Shafiqul.
Shamima then went home to Laksham, and Jarezul went to a known acquaintance’s house in Daudkandi, where DB arrested him.
