Two held over Chattogram double murder

Arrestees Belal and Manik are involved with notorious criminal Sajjad Hossain aka Chhoto Sajjad, police say

Police have arrested two people over the double murder that occurred in Chattogram after a car was chased down.

The two were arrested from Khaja Road in Chatgaon and Kanchannagar in Fatikchari in the city on Thursday.

The arrestees have been identified as Md Belal, 27, and Md Manik, 24.

Police say Belal was “directly involved in the killings” while Manik supplied a motorcycle.

Belal and Manik are involved with notorious criminal Sajjad Hossain aka Chhoto Sajjad, police say.

“Although the two arrestees are not named suspects in the case, we found them to have been involved in the murders,” said Inspector Mozammel Haque of Bakalia Police Station. “We uncovered their involvement by scrutinising CCTV footage and call records.”

Belal was seen firing a gun in the collected video footage, he said. He fled on a motorcycle after the shooting.

The clothes Belal wore on the day of the murder have been seized from his house, the inspector said.

Manik was the owner of the motorcycle used for the crime and was involved in “planning the murder”, he said.

Two people were shot dead and two others injured after a shooting involving a car in the early hours of Mar 31 in the city's Chawkbazar Chandanpura area.

The deceased were Bakhteyar Hossain Manik and Md Abdullah, both between 30 to 36 years of age. The injured were Robin and Hridoy.

Three days later, Bakhteyar’s mother Firoza Begum filed a case with the city's Baklia Police Station over the incident, naming seven people as suspects.

She alleged that the murders were “planned” by “top criminal” Chhoto Sajjad and his wife, who are in prison.

In addition to Sajjad and his wife Sharmin Akhter Tamanna, Md Hasan, Mobarak Hossain Emon, Raihan and Borhanseh were named as accused in the case.

After the incident, Chawkbazar Police Station chief Zahidul Kabir told bdnews24.com that the perpetrators chased the car from the Bakalia Rajakhali Bridge and shot two people dead at the entrance to the Chandanpura-Bakalia Access Road.

Md Robin, who is undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, told bdnews24.com on Sunday that there were six people in the car, including the driver. The deceased Manik was driving, and Sarwar Hossain Babla was sitting next to him.

Babla is also a top criminal listed by the police. Like Sajjad, he was also an associate of Sajjad Hossain (aka Boro Sajjad), a suspect in the murder of eight Chhatra League leaders.

Babla formed a separate gang when differences arose between them. At that time, Chhoto Sajjad, the grandson of Buri, became Boro Sajjad's right-hand man.

There were reports of disputes and clashes between the followers of Chhoto Sajjad and Babla in a large part of the Bayezid and Chandgaon areas at various times for various criminal activities including extortion. Chhoto Sajjad used to extort money on behalf of Boro Sajjad and Babla extorted money through his associates.

Robin said he suspected that Babla may have been behind Chhoto Sajjad's arrest on Mar 15, and Sajjad's followers carried out the attack to kill him.

The police have not found any trace of Babla and Emon since the killings took place.