The authorities concerned yesterday gave different versions regarding the progress of investigation into the murders of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella and Japanese national Hoshi Kunio.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Islam said that the law enforcers needed more time to solve the cases.
“The motives will be unearthed and the killers held if any of the cases is solved. Before that it will be difficult to make a comment on the matter,” he said at a programme in Savar.
However, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that the two high-powered investigation committees would be able to find the killers soon.
At a programme in Gazipur, the home minister said: “The government has prioritised the two murder cases and engaged all the law enforcement and detective agencies. We are hopeful that the cases will be solved soon.”
Meanwhile, Rangpur police yesterday recovered another bullet shell from the spot where Hoshi Kunio had been killed. The three-member Japanese team also met with the district’s deputy commissioner.
Asked the security alerts issued by several embassies in Dhaka, the IGP said that the police had nothing to say about it. “But the police believe that they have taken appropriate measures not only for the foreigners but also for the citizens of the country.”
He also refuted the claim that international terrorist group Islamic State members were behind the murders. “The police do not know anything about Rita Kartz, who runs SITE Intelligence Group website that observes militant activities, and how she collected the information of the claim,” Shahidul said.
Police sources say that they found the website suspicious since seven other websites that publish the official IS statements did not mention anything about the murder of two foreign nationals in Bangladesh.
The prime minister too rejected the IS claims and alleged that the BNP-Jamaat alliance had hatched the conspiracy to create anarchy in the country.
Although the investigators could not make any breakthrough in the murders, Rangpur police yesterday recovered another bullet shell from the spot, Superintendent of Police Abdur Razzak said.
On the other hand, the visiting Japanese team yesterday met with Deputy Commissioner Rahat Anwar in the afternoon and sought assistance from the district administration in the investigation.
NGO official Tavella was killed by three unidentified assailants on September 28 in the capital’s Gulshan area and Japanese citizen Hoshi Kunio on October 3 in Rangpur.
The law enforcers have not detained or arrested any person in connection with Tavella murder but detained 10 persons in connection with the other.
The body of Hoshi Kunio is kept at Rangpur Medical College morgue whereas the Italian Embassy started preparation to receive Tavella’s body.
