A retired police official was gunned down by a group of unidentified youths inside his own apartment at the capital’s West Rampura area on Thursday.
Fazlul Karim, 65, who retired six years ago as an additional superintendent of police from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), was the first investigation officer of the August 21 grenade attack case.
The motive behind the murder couldn’t be known immediately, although the victim’s daughter claimed it could be linked to a family feud over ownership of properties at their home village.
Md Azad Hossain, a domestic help who witnessed the attack, told the Dhaka Tribune how the incident took place.
Around 9:30am, Swapna Karim, the deceased’s wife, was about to go out to visit their daughter at Gulshan and asked driver Liton to get her car ready.
“The main door was opened and madam (Swapna) was about to step out when a gaunt, tall, dark-skinned youth appeared and tried to snatch the gold necklace off her neck. She tried to resist and cried for help,” Azad said.
“Two other youths quickly appeared and pushed her inside, brandishing their guns.
“Sir (Karim) was in his study room then. He came out hearing the scream, but the miscreants threatened to kill him. They confined madam to a room and me to the veranda.”
Azad said he then peeped through the window only to see the tall boy pointing a pistol at Karim’s forehead and shooting him at point-blank range. He got too frightened to take a second look.
“I heard two more gunshot sounds but didn’t know who they were aimed for. Later, madam somehow managed to free herself and tried to call the police using a landline telephone.”
Hearing the sound of gunshots, tenants from other apartments and the driver rushed in to see what happened, but the miscreants had already escaped, he added.
However, Swapna said she did not see the youths shoot her husband.
After Karim was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, doctors declared him dead.
SI Md Julhash of Rampura police station said the victim died from a single gunshot wound, on the right side of his forehead.
Farzana, the couple’s daughter who lives with her husband in Gulshan, told reporters that they had a longstanding feud with her “uncles” and “cousins” over ownership of properties. “I think they are involved with my father’s murder,” she said.
Karim’s home village was Ram Krisnadea, located in the Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj.
Senior police officials visited the crime spot after the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Matijheel Ashrafuzzaman said, “We are yet to know how the criminals entered the apartment, but investigation is going on.”
Karim lived on the second floor of a five-storey building at the Wapda road in West Rampura. The building, with a total of 11 apartments, had no security guard but the main entrance was kept locked for security.
He and his wife, together with their two domestic workers Azad and Sumi, lived in the apartment.
