The triple murder at the capital’s Moghbazar might have been the outcome of a power-struggle over dominating the local cable TV business as well as holding control over a piece of land that belonged to the Bangladesh Railway, investigators have said.
The group of gun-wielding assailants, allegedly led by a local criminal known as Kala Babu, reportedly planned to kill Shamim Hossain alias Kala Chand when they carried out the attack on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Kala Chand, brother of victim Ranu Akter Brishti, filed a case with Ramna police station late last night, accusing Kala Babu and 14 others, said Ramna division Deputy Commissioner Iqbal Hossain.
Locals claimed that Babu and Chand had a feud over dominating the area’s cable TV business. Chand, the general secretary of Sramik League’s railway unit, reportedly used to earn around Tk12 lakh monthly from running the area’s cable TV business.
Seeking anonymity, a Detective Branch official told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that a local criminal named Rony, a known associate of absconding criminal Zishan, was behind the attack.
He added that a leader of Jubo League’s central committee – who was also suspected to have used the services of Kala Babu to carry out several murders in Moghbazar and Badda – was the mastermind of Thursday’s triple murder. The detective, however, refused to disclose the name of the leader.
Other known cohorts of Rony, including Riham, Shovon, Maruf, Farukh, Mosharraf and Al-Amin, were part of the group that carried out the attack, said the DB official.
Although Chand was the intended target in Thursday’s attack, his absence in the house prompted the assailants to kill Chand’s friend Billal Hossain and tenant Munna as well as injuring Chand’s younger brother Ridoy. When Chand’s elder sister Ranu Akter Brishti tried to resist the killers, she was also shot and killed.
A police source told the Dhaka Tribune that Rony had emerged as the most prominent player controlling the cable TV business in the area after forcing out another criminal, Zakir, who previously controlled the trade. Both Rony and Zakir were reportedly mentored by Zishan, a listed top criminal who fled to Dubai in 2001.
When Rony was dominating the business in the area, he was joined by several other newcomer goons including Mahbubur Rahman Rana. However, Rana soon started to outshine Rony and was able to secure a post in Chhatra League’s Ramna committee.
Growing tension between Rony and Rana reportedly led to the latter’s murder on February 23 this year; three of Rony’s associates are currently behind bars in the murder case.
Following Rana’s death, Rony lost his dominance over the cable TV business while Rana’s brother Mithu reportedly took over the trade and asked Kala Chand to take care of a portion of the business.
Plotting his revenge over losing business, Rony allegedly befriended Kala Babu who already had disputes with Chand over a piece of land.
The disputed land, which was allegedly grabbed from the Bangladesh Railway by local influential Jubo League leader named Abdul Khalek, was “bought” by Chand from Rony for around Tk7 lakh. Babu held a grudge over Chand as he also wanted to own the land.
This dispute might have also played a key role behind the attack, sources said.
Meanwhile, the police were unable to arrest any of the suspected killers as of last night; however, they held two aunts of Kala Babu from a house in Moghbazar’s Sonalibagh area, but released them after interrogation.
Sources at the Criminal Investigation Department, on the other hand, said they had detained a close associate of Kala Babu from the capital’s New Market area on Thursday night. However, the detainee’s name was not disclosed to the media.
Asked about progress in the case, Deputy Commissioner of Ramna division Iqbal Hossain said they had interrogated the two relatives of Babu who had provided important information about the fugitive suspect’s whereabouts.
“The whole gang will be arrested soon,” he added.