Japanese national Hoshi Kunio, killed 10 days ago by assailants still to be identified, was finally buried in Rangpur yesterday in the presence of embassy officials.
Meanwhile, sources from the Dhaka Medical College morgue yesterday said that the body of Italian national Cesare Tavella, killed in Dhaka five days before Hoshi’s murder, will be taken by embassy officials today.
Hoshi was laid to eternal rest at the Munshipara graveyard in the Rangpur city around 3am – a time highly unusual for a burial. Before that, his body was kept at the morgue of the Rangpur Medical College Hospital since the day of the murder.
In the graveyard’s documents, he was registered as Golam Mohammad Kibria and his original name, Hoshi Kunio, was written beside within brackets.
Rangpur district Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahat Anowar told reporters around midday that high officials of the Japan embassy were present during the burial.
Rangpur City Corporation Mayor Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu said that the DC had sought his permission for burying Hoshi around 2:30am.
Jhantu also confirmed that Hoshi had converted to Islam after he came to Bangladesh. “According to the documents that we have in our hands, he became a Muslim.”
Investigation
Investigators yesterday said that the killers of secular bloggers and the foreigners did not belong to the same group.
A day before that, an information technology expert said that the group that claimed responsibility for the murder of the two expatriates also claimed responsibility for the slaying of bloggers.
Tanvir Hasan Zoha, the IT expert who is assisting the investigators, also said that there was evidence the tweeters had received funds from the Middle East.
However, Mahfuzul Islam, additional deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, said that the killers of bloggers and foreigners belonged to different groups.
According to a reliable source, investigators yesterday took a blogger murder accused in Sylhet under fresh remand for interrogation.
Shahjalal University student Mannan Yahya alias Mannan Rahi alias Hira alias Abdul Munim is the accused in the blogger Ananta murder case and was arrested in Sylhet after the murder.
Asked about Zoha’s claim, Mahfuzul said: “Police can take help from anyone if needed. But it does not give that person the authority to be quoted, especially when a case is at such a crucial stage.”
Tavella’s dead body
According to a source, the Dhaka Medical College morgue yesterday received a letter from the Italian embassy in Dhaka which said Tavella’s dead body will be taken to his country using an air ambulance today.
Earlier, ADC Mahfuzul said that the Italian embassy would receive the body after their preparations are fully complete.