Police have arrested a suspected conman on charges of masquerading as a woman on the social media to blackmail a madrasa teacher and killing him after taking him to the border area in Sylhet’s Jaflong.
Locals discovered the body of Md Kausar Mia, who taught at a madrasa in Brahmanbaria, late on Thursday and reported it to the police.
Soon after confirming the identity, police launched an investigation and arrested Shamsul Islam, 35, from a hotel in connection with the murder.
Sylhet Superintendent of Police Farid Uddin Ahmad said: “Shamsul checked into the hotel posing as a law enforcement officer. Kausar also stayed at the same hotel. From there, Shamsul took Kausar to the border area at gunpoint, before tying up his hands and feet and killing him.
“Shamsul had been chatting [with Kausar] on Facebook for the last few months pretending to be a woman. The two agreed to meet at one point, and Kausar was asked to come to this hotel in Jaflong.”
The senior police officer continued, quoting the arrestee: “Upon his arrival, Kausar realized that the person he had been chatting to was a man and that he had fallen victim to a con. Shamsul demanded Tk2 lakh from him, threatening to expose the matter otherwise. Shamsul then killed Kausar as he had refused to settle up.”
Describing Shamsul as being “quite skilled in IT”, SP Farid said police recovered a fake gun, computer motherboard and four mobile phones from his possession.