The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday said it had arrested three men in Chapainawabganj over the murder of Japanese national Hoshi Kunio last month.
Rangpur locals said the detainees were Jubo League and Jubo Dal activists, the youth groups of the Awami League and BNP, respectively.
RAB sources said the men were detained because they fit the description of Hoshi’s killers, based on witness accounts.
Local police confirmed that the detainees had previous criminal records.
The arrestees are Jubo Dal members Rajib Hasan Sumon alias Meril Sumon, 25, and Naoshad Hossain Rubel alias Kala Rubel, 27, and Jubo League member Kajol Chandra Barman alias Bhorosa Kajol, 25.
All three were residents of the Kotwali police station area of Rangpur city.
Two small firearms, bullets and machetes were recovered from the detained men, RAB 5 Commander Lt Col Mahbub Alam told the media yesterday.
“They admitted to their involvement in the killing during preliminary questioning,” he said.
Mahbub said a Crime Prevention Company team detained Rajib from the Satnoil Uttarpara area of Sadar Model police station because of his suspicious movements. They recovered a foreign pistol and a magazine with two bullets from his possession.
The RAB commander added that Rajib said two of his associates were in town after fleeing Rangpur city after Hoshi’s murder in Kaunia upazila on October 3.
RAB detained Kala Rubel and Bhorosa Kajol from Chapainawabganj town’s Bidirpur area and recovered foreign pistols and a machete from their possession.
“The men had been on the run since the murder of Hoshi Kunio and had frequently changed location,” Mahbub said.
According to RAB, all three had pending criminal cases for murder and mugging. Rajib alias Meril Sumon had been accused in eight cases including for murder, Kala Rubel in two murder cases and Bhorosa Kajol in five cases.
Officer-in-Charge of Rangpur Kotwali police station Abdul Qader Gilani confirmed their previous criminal records but said he was not aware that they had been detained.
RAB handed the suspects over to Chapainawabganj Sadar police station, charging them with illegal possession of firearms.
Family members of the detainees claim they were picked up by plainclothesmen last month, but both Rangpur police and RAB 13 have denied the allegations.
Rajib’s wife, Samia Akhter, in a press conference at the Rangpur Press Club on October 7, claimed that her husband had been picked up by plainclothesmen who introduced themselves as RAB personnel on October 6.
Kajal’s father Bablu and Rubel’s father Latif made similar allegations, saying the two men were picked up by plainclothes law enforcers within a week of Rajib’s detainment.
RAB 13 operation officer, Assistant Superintendent of police Dolon Mia, said he knew nothing about the detention.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rangpur Range) Humayun Kabir told journalists the detainees will be shown arrested in the Hoshi murder case after they are brought to Rangpur from Chapainawabganj.