A large amount of cash money is the reason behind the killing of veteran photojournalist Aftab Ahmed, police and family suggested on Thursday.
The missing driver of the house was the main suspect in this killing case.
“Journalist Aftab Ahmed had large amount of cash in his house. This was the cause of murder as far as we know,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Monirul Islam said.
“Driver Kabir is missing. This has deepened suspicion of his involvement in the murder,” he said. “We suspect he killed journalist Aftab Ahmed for money.”
The family of the 80-year-old journalist also said to have blamed the driver for the murder, according to this police official.
“We are looking for Kabir. The address he provided in Gazipur is false,” Monirul Islam said.
Housemaid Nasima Akhter and a former driver Nazmul Islam were detained and later released because their involvement to the murder was not found, he added.
Aftab Ahmed did not like to keep money in bank and rather preferred to keep it with him in the house, his daughter Afroza Ahmed Borna told the Dhaka Tribune.
“My father might have been killed for the money and driver Kabir might be behind it,” she said.
Rampura police Officer-in-Charge Kripasindhu Bala said Monowar Ahmed, the journalist's son, will soon lodge a murder case. “We are also looking for driver Kabir.”
Aftab Ahmed, who was honoured with the Ekushey Padak in 2006, was found dead in his Rampura house on Friday.
He was popular for his photography of the Liberation War in 1971, including the surrender of the Pakistani forces on December 16, and the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
He also earned fame for his photography of Basanti of Chilmari in Kurigram. His creation of Basanti wearing a fishing net depicted the poignant image of the famine of 1974.