Miscreants hacked four policemen near Chittagong city’s Batali hill area on Sunday, leaving one dead and three injured.
The deceased Md Abdul Kaiyum, 26, who hailed from Gachhua village, Sandwip, was deployed at the bungalow of Chittagong range’s Deputy Inspector General Nawsher Ali. The three injured constables are Md Salauddin, 28, Ariful Islam, 25, and Md Shahabuddin, 28.
Additional Superintendent of Police Saroar Jahan, staff officer to the DIG, told the Dhaka Tribune that around 10-15 men attacked the four policemen, who were in plain clothes and off-duty, with lethal weapons around 9:30am, leaving them critically injured.
The four constables had gone to a tea-stall near the DIG’s bungalow where they found two muggers who had allegedly snatched valuables from a driver of the DIG a few days ago, he said, adding that the muggers started shouting, terming the policemen as snatchers, when they (policemen) tried to nab them.
The cohorts of the muggers, hearing the shouting, attacked the policemen and hacked them indiscriminately, the official said. The injured were rushed to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where the on-duty doctors declared Kaiyum dead and sent his body for autopsy.
Meanwhile, four people – Jewel, Rubel, Suman and Selim – were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing, said Harun-or-Rashid Hajaree, deputy commissioner of North Zone in Chittagong Metropolitan Police.
Locals, however, told Dhaka Tribune that the police constables were involved with gambling and they were attacked by other gamblers when the constables locked into a feud centring on the distribution of gambled money.
An official of the CMP, seeking anonymity, told Dhaka Tribune that the four constables had ties allegedly with extortionists, drug peddlers and gamblers in the area and had been collecting tolls from them.
Md Shahidullah, additional deputy commissioner (north) of the CMP, said he heard many “rumours” over the incident and was investigating the matter to find out the facts.
The Dhaka Tribune could not reach DIG Nawsher Ali over mobile phone for his comments in this regard.
