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Published : 16 Jul 2025, 04:38 PM
The brutal murder of scrap trader Lal Chand alias Md Sohag was primarily driven by “business rivalry and personal resentment”, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali has said.
Police have arrested another suspect in connection with the incident.
Rezwan Uddin Abhi, 35, was arrested on Tuesday night in Patuakhali, the DMP chief said.
With this, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to nine.
The identities of the suspects were revealed during a briefing at the DMP Media Centre in Dhaka on Wednesday.
They are: “Alamgir”, 28, Monir alias Lamba Monir, 32, Titon Gazi, 32, Mahmudul Hasan Mohin, 41, Tarek Rahman Robin, 22, Nannu Gazi, 25, Sojib Bepari, Rajib Bepari, and Abhi, a converted Muslim.
According to police, eight of them were identified via video footage.
“Business rivalry and personal vendetta led to this murder,” the DMP chief said.
He added, “The recent arrestee, Abhi, had personal animosity towards Sohag following multiple incidents of fraud. Moreover, Sohag had been monopolising the business for 17 years.”
Presenting information provided by Abhi during the initial interrogation, the commissioner said: “After his arrest, Abhi confessed that in 2018, Sohag grabbed his roadside shop and also seized a mobile phone, which contained personal videos involving his wife. Sohag used these videos to blackmail him, which eventually drove his wife to take her own life.”
Police believe such resentment was the motive behind the killing.
Jasim Uddin, deputy commissioner of DMP’s Lalbagh Division, said over a hundred videos related to the case have been collected and everyone involved will be brought to book.
“Our major success was arresting two suspects immediately from the crime scene,” he added.
On Wednesday, Sohag was bludgeoned to death with a concrete block, outside Gate No. 3 of Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital.
The video of the killing spread on social media, sparking widespread outrage across the country.
According to police and locals, those seen participating in the murder and those suspected to be behind it were all known to Sohag. At one time, some of them were his business associates.
There was no defence lawyer present for Abhi. Later, the court placed him on a five-day remand, said Sub-Inspector Tanvir Morshed Chowdhury of Kotwali police's prosecution wing.
Following the incident, the victim’s elder sister filed a murder case against 19 people with Kotwali police on Jul 10.
