Two of the four suspects arrested over the brutal killing of college student Rakibul Hasan Rakib at the Central Shaheed Minar have given confessional statements in court, while the other two have been sent on a five-day remand for questioning.
On Wednesday, in response to the investigating officer’s request, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin recorded the suspects’ statements and approved the remand.
SI Md Mithu Sarkar of Shahbagh Police Station, the investigating officer, confirmed that Golam Rasul Shihab and Sagar Kabir have made confessional statements in court. Meanwhile, Rafin Sheikh and Shahriar Nazim Joy have been remanded for five days for interrogation.
Shihab was arrested from the Shaheed Minar area, Sagar from Patuakhali, and Rafin and Joy from Khulna. After their arrest, when presented in court, Shihab and Sagar voluntarily agreed to give statements. Although a seven-day remand was sought for Rafin and Joy, the court granted five days.
The investigating officer said the remand was necessary to uncover the main details of the murder, recover the firearms (pistol) and knives used, and identify other suspects involved. During initial questioning, Shihab and Sagar admitted to direct involvement in the murder and said the attack was carried out on the orders of top Khulna gangster Salauddin.
Rakibul, 25, a second-year undergraduate at Sheikh Borhanuddin College, was shot and stabbed at the Central Shaheed Minar on Sunday night. His father, Tarikul Islam Khokon, a Dhaka University employee, filed a murder case at Shahbagh Police Station on Monday.
According to the case statement, around 8:30pm on Sunday, Rakibul was targeted with gunfire immediately after arriving at Shaheed Minar on a motorcycle. Five to six unidentified assailants then attacked him with knives. Passersby took the seriously injured student to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Police said operations are ongoing to arrest other suspects involved in the case.
