Rumours and speculations among locals have made it hard for law enforcers to piece together how the Shia mosque attackers in Bogra managed to escape after the shooting spree.
Different witnesses have described completely different versions of the post-attack chain of events. The task of apprehending the attackers has been made more difficult as many of the locals have given misleading information based on hearsay, investigators said.
The absolute lack of authentic information regarding the culprits has come as a surprise, sources at law enforcement agencies told the Dhaka Tribune.
Visiting the Chakkanu village in Shibganj upazila, the Dhaka Tribune found that rumours were rife as villagers continue to spend their days in fear.
Many of the locals who spoke to the Dhaka Tribune could recount details about the attack, but admitted their statements were based on only what they had heard from others.
The handful of witnesses, meanwhile, said they could not get a close look at the attackers. The only substantial description was that the culprits wore dark-coloured dresses and one of them had a Tupi on his head.
On Thursday, three gunmen opened fire on the devotees at a Shia mosque in Shibganj upazila during the Maghrib prayers, killing the muezzin and injuring three others.
One of their possible escape route might have been through a nearby brick field. Local Union Parishad Member Jahurul Islam said witness accounts suggest that the three attackers might have fled on a motorcycle from there.
From the brick field, the attackers might have followed two routes: one through Gopinathpur village to Bogra-Joypurhat road, and the other through Nayapara and Aliarhat villages.
The head of the five-member probe team, Arifur Rahman Mandal, also additional superintendent of police in Bogra, said they were investigating the possibility of multiple escape routes.
A source in police said one of the suspects was seen carrying something heavy on his shoulder while another had his arm concealed under his cloth as they escaped towards Aliarhat.
SM Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of the local police station, said they had been receiving a lot of misleading information from the locals since the incident.
He added that the suspects in remand - 20-year-old madrasa student Jewel and 55-year-old Haripur village resident Anwarul Islam Hossain – have not yet provided any substantial clues. The OC also did not confirm whether the detainees were JMB members or had been working for any other outfit.
However, a source close to with the probe said Anwar has admitted during remand that he was an inactive member of JMB.
Meanwhile, Shibganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Aminur Rahman said the fact that the attackers had brought locks to shut the mosque gate suggested that they had visited the place several times before the crime. So it was surprising that no locals had any specific information about the presence of suspicious people in the area, the UNO added.