Bakhtiar Alam Rony, the son of an MP, was drunk when he opened fire from inside his car earlier this year, a friend who was reportedly accompanying him at the time told a Dhaka court yesterday.
The friend, Kamal Mahmud, surrendered to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Haque around 1pm and gave a 30-minute long judiciary statement. He earlier also provided a separate statement to the investigation officer, DB’s SI Dipak Kumar Das.
He described how Rony, son of Awami League lawmaker Pinu Khan, fired shots using his own licensed weapon. Rony was in an intoxicated state at the time, Kamal said, adding that he was in the car with Rony when the incident took place.
Meanwhile, Tanjir Ahmed, Rony’s elder brother, pleaded to the same court for giving him back the custody of the SUV that was seized by the police as evidence. The court then ordered the investigation officer to scrutinies the car documents and submit a report on this regard in five working days.
Earlier, a Dhaka court rejected a bail petition from Rony and sent him to jail in the case filed over killing two people on a Dhaka street.
While arguing for the bail, Rony’s lawyer Advocate Nazbullah Hiru alleged that the police had arrested the MP’s son only to harass him.
However, DMP’s DB chief Monirul Islam termed the claim a lie, saying the arrest was made after evidence was gathered against Rony.
“During primary interrogation [of Rony], we have found that the bullet was fired from Rony’s gun and if the same thing is proven in the ballistic report, then we will request for the cancellation of his arms licence,” he said.
On the night of April 13, Yakub Sikder, an autorickshaw driver for Daily Janakantha, and Abdul Halim, a rickshaw-puller, received bullet wounds when Rony fired at people indiscriminately at Dilu Road. Halim died on April 15, while Yakub succumbed to his injuries on April 23.
Halim’s mother Monowara Begum filed a case with Ramna police station on April 15. It was later shifted to the Detective Branch on May 24.
Detectives arrested Rony from his Elephant Road residence on May 31. On June 1, a Dhaka court granted the DB police four days to interrogate Rony.
