A Dhaka court yesterday placed Zakir Patwary Ratan on a four-day remand in a case filed over the murder of Japanese woman Hiyori Miyeta who allegedly died of cholera in the city’s Uttara area on October 29.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Kaisarul Islam passed the order after Officer-In-Charge (investigation) of Uttara East police station Abu Bakar Miah, also investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court seeking a 10-day remand for grilling him.
The investigation officer mentioned in the remand prayer that the suspect needed to be put on remand to find out the clue to the murder.
During the hearing, Zakir’s counsel Md Mir Hussain, submitted a petition seeking bail along with cancellation of the remand prayer.
Hussain said: “Zakir was a business partner of the victim and they have known to each other since 2006. Zakir called a doctor and to get her examined and finally she recovered. She died three days later.”
The defense counsel also said: “Zakir is not involved in any killing. She died a natural death and this was not a murder. Police arrested him from Benapole on December 4.”
On November 24, detainees – Maruful Islam, Rashedul Islam, M Fakhrul, Jahangir Hossain and Dr Bimal Chandra Sheel – arrested earlier were granted a four-day remand each by another metropolitan magistrate court in Dhaka.
According to the case document, the killer killed the victim and buried the body in Khalpaar graveyard as a Muslim from Uttara. She lived in a dormitory at Sector 6 of Uttara.
On November 19, an official of Japanese Embassy in Dhaka Kusuki Matsuna filed a general diary with Uttara police station over the disappearance of Hiroye Miyata. She filed the GD after getting information from her mother.
According to the GD, her mobile phone number was found switched off since October 26.
Later, On November 22 police filed a murder case against six people including Zakir with the Uttara East police station suspecting the incident as a murder as she was buried secretly.