Journo Shimul murder: Illegal weapon recovered

Police claimed to have recovered a local gun used by Shahjadpur Mayor Halimul Haque Miru’s brother Mintu during a fatal clash between two groups of the ruling party on February 2 when a local journalist was shot. Shahjadpur Inspector Md Munirul Islam, also investigation officer of the case, claimed that they had recovered the illegal pipe gun from a ditch behind the house of Habibul Haque Mintu in Monirampur area early Tuesday, based on information he gave during interrogation. Both Miru and Miru were placed on fresh remand for the second time on February 28. Police earlier seized Miru’s licensed gun but could not recover the other firearms used on that day. The gun will be sent to the CID’s forensic laboratory to confirm whether the bullets of the mayor’s shotgun had been used in it, he added. Munirul also claimed that they had raided the area in the presence of locals and two journalists. They also recorded the drive and showed the footage to the duo. The journalists, Sagar Basak and Shishir, however, said that they were not present at the scene when the gun had been recovered. “Being informed by Sub-Inspector Kamal Kumar Singh, I went to the spot around 7:45am and saw some locals looking at a pipe gun,” Sagar said. Shishir went there around 8am. “It is a very sensitive issue. We did not see Mintu at the spot. Police kept a pipe gun on a table near the ditch. I did not witness how and when the police recovered the firearm,” he said. “But the police showed us video footage of the drive where Mintu was seen showing the law enforcers the place where he had hidden the pipe gun,” Shishir said. The Daily Samakal’s Shahjadpur correspondent Abdul Hakim Shimul was shot during the February 2 clash while taking photographs of the mayor firing from his shotgun. He died the following day. Apart from Miru, his brother Mintu fired from his “illegal shotgun” and at least two others carried guns during the clashes, witnesses claim. Miru, the main accused, was arrested from Dhaka on February 5. He was earlier remanded for five days on February 13. On the other hand, Mintu was remanded for five days on February 15.