11year old girl, Elma, was killed with the consent of her father Abdul Motalib in an apparent plot to entrap a rival group and establish dominance in an area in Narsingdi.
Elma’s brother-in-law Babul, and cousin Masum and 7 or 8 others brutally killed Elma, hitting her with brickbats in a paddy field of Narshingdi in March 2015.
Her father Motalib himself stood on the spot and assisted in the killing.
During interrogation, one of the accused said that Elma's father had demanded money at the time, saying: "Pay first, then do it."
Elma's father later on filed a murder case against his rival. However, he never got any of the Tk30 lakh, said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Deputy Inspector General (Organized Crime Unit) Imtiaz Ahmed, at a CID headquarters press briefing yesterday, after the arrest of five people allegedly involved in the killing.
They are – Elma’s father Abdul Mutalib, mother Mongoly Begum, brother-in-law Babul and cousin Masum, and group leader, Shahjahan Bhuiyan.
Among them, Masum gave a confessional statement before the court. They were arrested in Narsingdi Sadar upazila on March 7 and 8.
DIG Imtiaz said the police recovered Elma’s body from a paddy field in Baherchar village of Narsingdi on March 28, 2015.
CID took over the murder case when the police failed to hunt down the culprits.
CID first apprehended Masum who gave a confessional statement regarding his involvement in the incident, Imtiaz added.
After primary investigation, CID came to know that there were two groups: one led by Shahjahan Bhuiyan and the other led by former member Bachchu of Baher Char in Narsingdi Sadar. Conflicts were rampant between the two groups in the area.
11year old girl, Elma | CourtesyDIG Imtiaz said deceased Elma’s cousin Masum, who was loyal to the Shahjahan group, had an affair with Tania, daughter of Tofazzal, a member of the Bachchu group.
Masum brought Tania to her brother-in-law's house for marriage. On information, Tania's father launched an attack there with sharp weapons and rescued Tania.
Later, Tania’s father filed a kidnapping case against Masum, his brother Kashru, and other people. Consequently, the conflict between the two groups reached a boiling point, the DIG said.
Masum and 13 other people held a meeting at Shahjahan's house to hurt the Bachchu group on March 1, 2015. It was decided in the meeting to file a murder case against the Bachchu group after executing a revenge killing, he added.
The top police official also said that according to their decision, the group leader Shahjahan proposed to Motalib that he kill his daughter Elma for money.
Motalib agreed to kill his child for Tk30 lakh.
Elma’s cousin gave her some money to buy some goods from a market. When Elma came back home from the market, Masum, Babul and 7 or 8 other people took her to a neighboring paddy field according to their plan, he added. Later, Elma was brutally killed, her head smashed by brickbats.
At the time of this horrific incident, Elma's father had been a witness, and stood by the crime scene.
Elma's father Motalib filed a murder case against Bachchu group’s Bilkis, Khorshed, Nannu and 4/5 unknown persons with Narsingdi Sadar Model police station on March 31, 2015.
However, after all this, Masum said that Elma's father did not get the contract money to the tune of Tk30 lakh.