Arju Mia, the Hazaribagh unit president of pro-government Chhatra League, was killed in a so-called crossfire with the Rapid Action Battalion personnel early yesterday, hours after being sued as a prime accused for beating a teenager to death in the area.
RAB Assistant Director (legal and media wing) Maj Maksudul Alam said that they had arrested Arju on Monday night following a complaint lodged by the victim’s sister. The gunfight occurred when the RAB team headed towards Baroikhal area to arrest his associates.
“Some miscreants attacked the RAB patrol team to snatch Arju around 3:30am. Arju was hit by bullets as he tried to flee,” Maj Maksud claimed adding that doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital declared him dead.
Two pistols and bullets were recovered from the spot, he said.
Morgue sources said that Arju had sustained seven bullet injuries in his head.
Hazaribagh police registered the case of Raja’s sister Reshma Akhter Shabana early yesterday against 14 people with Arju named the prime accused.
The family alleged that Arju had called the boy to his house around 10:30am Sunday, locked him in a room on the ground floor of his three-storey building and beat him severely along with his accomplices. Arju alleged that Raja had stolen laptop and mobile phones from his Gonoktuli Lane house the previous day.
Later, they took the boy to Kamrangirchar, tortured him in an under-construction building and left him almost-dead at his house in the afternoon. Before losing his consciousness, Raja only wanted to drink water, locals said.
The 17-year-old was taken to the DMCH and declared dead around 5pm on Monday.
Raja had been living with his aunt in Kamrangirchar area for the last two years and worked at a steel furniture shop. He came to his Hazaribagh house two days back.
The murder took place at a time when the country has been abuzz over the recent brutal killing of several children in Sylhet, Khulna and Narayanganj.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday granted the police three days to interrogate two people who were arrested from Hazaribagh in the case. Another arrestee gave confessional statement in the court.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Arefin granted the remand for Moniruzzaman Monir alias Peitya Monir and Sujon Hossain Shamim after Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Aliv Mahmud produced them before the court.
The SI also pleaded to the court to record the confessional statement of Sagor Ahmed Sana. He was later sent to jail.
On the other hand, Arju’s brother Masud Rana yesterday threatened Raja’s family members with dire consequences at the DMC morgue, Ratna Akhter, an aunt of Raja, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Masud claimed that his brother could not be killed “centring such a minor issue. Someone must have misled the elite force to achieve their political gain.”
Locals alleged that Arju had killed another person of the same area, Jamir, over a land dispute two years ago, and returned to the area recently.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that it was an incident of gunfight. The law enforcement agencies could have obtained more information from the accused if the encounter had not taken place.