Six days after the abduction of Narayanganj city panel mayor Nazrul Islam, 10 people were arrested yesterday, but main accused Nur Hossain remained untraced, amid allegations that he could be arrested and Nazrul rescued alive if the raid was conducted immediately after the incident.
In a four-hour long drive, law enforcers raided in Narayanganj the Shiddhirganj home of Nur Hossain, vice-president of a local unit of the ruling Awami League, and also seized a microbus and some wooden sticks.
Nazrul’s wife Selina Islam slammed the raid saying it was nothing but an “eyewash.”
She told the Dhaka Tribune over phone: “If law enforcers had conducted the raid immediately after the abduction, he [Nazrul] could have been rescued alive... We informed police right after the abduction. But they did not arrest Nur Hossain. Even on Tuesday [two days after the abduction], local people saw him [Nur] roaming around in the city.”
However, Nur Mohammad, a nephew of Nur Hossain, claimed that the accused’s family members had gone into hiding right after the abduction case was filed.
The raid began at Nur Hossain’s Tekpara house around 11am yesterday. Before that, police kept the house cordoned off for around half an hour. Journalists were not allowed in the area until 2pm.
Refusing to disclose the names of the detainees, Md Zakaria, additional superintendent of Narayanganj police, said they would be interrogated.
Additional DIG Khondokar Golam Faruque said they had also recovered a shirt with some spots. “After forensic test we will be able to confirm whether they are bloodstained,” he said.
Later at a press briefing, police officials said they had called up forensic experts from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to inspect the microbus.
However, seeking anonymity, a source in the police told the Dhaka Triune last night that Nur Hossain’s body guard, house security and some domestic helps were among the detainees.
On April 28, a day after the abduction of Nazrul, his wife Selina filed a case against Nur Hossain, another local ruling party leader Hazi Yasin and four others.
The bodies of Nazrul, lawyer Chandan Sarkar and five others were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River on Wednesday and Thursday. They were abducted in broad daylight in Narayanganj on Sunday.
When asked why the raid was not conducted before, Narayanganj police chief (SP) Khandokar Muhid Uddin said: “We did not conduct the raid before because we were not sure if the accused was there or not.”
He also snubbed out suspicions that the perpetrators might have fled the country.
Earlier yesterday, Narayanganj District Lawyers’ Association formed a human chain and held a rally in front of the local Press Club in support of their tomorrow’s hartal called to protest the murder of Chandan and Nazrul.
Meanwhile, 22 councillors of the Narayanganj City Corporation have announced 48 hours of work abstention demanding the arrest of Nazrul’s murderers.
