A police official involved with the investigation into the Narayanganj seven murders have said the criminals’ initial plan was to kill only two; the rest were killed to cover the trails.
He said the abductors had been primarily instructed to pick up city panel mayor Nazrul Islam and his close friend Moniruzzaman Swapon.
Nur Hossain, who provided the money, had a feud with Nazrul but he wanted to see Swapan’s end as well because he helped Nazrul in many ways.
Nur contracted RAB for killing those two; the preparations were made accordingly. Two RAB officials worked at the field level and another kept contact over phone.
But the entire plan went wrong when the RAB men picked up seven people instead of two because of “unavoidable circumstances,” said an investigator, who preferred not to be named.
One RAB member was assigned to keep an eye on Nazrul on the premises of the local district court. But he got caught and Nazrul’s aides handed him over to police.
Before that, the RAB man informed the team that was waiting to abduct, that two cars were heading their way.
The RAB officials on spot decided to pick up five people instead of two; but they also picked up Chandan Sarkar and his chauffer because they had witnessed the incident.
Arif did not inform Tarek that they had abducted Chandan Sarker and his driver. Learning this later, Tarek and Rana got upset and rebuked Arif for his “dumb work.”
On April 27, Nazrul and his four aides, and lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were kidnapped after they had left the court area by two separate cars.
Six bodies, including those of Nazrul and Chandan, were found floating on the Shitalakkhya on April 30 while the body of the other was found the next day.
On May 3, Nazrul’s father-in-law Shahidul Islam alleged that local ward councillor Nur Hossain gave Tk6 crore as bribe to the RAB men for killing Nazrul.
Three Rab officials – Lt Col (retd) Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj (retd) Arif Hossain and Lt Commander (retd) Masud Rana – were sent into forced retirement following the allegations and a media outcry. Later they were arrested following a High Court rule.
One of the investigators said: “The abductees were taken in two microbuses. Nazrul, Swapon and Tajul were in one.”
Soon, the abduction induced disagreements among the three officials. Rana and Tarek blamed Arif for the “problem” that was created because five additional people were picked up.
Even during interrogation in police custody, the duo blamed Arif for killing seven.
“They thought, abducting and killing Nazrul and Swapon would not be a problem and they would be able to tackle the situation because the two had criminal records including being accused in murder cases,” the police official said.
But the abduction of lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver made the situation complex and difficult to manage. Even the abductors were confused whether or not to free them until the others were killed.
The investigators have also found that among the RAB officials, Arif was the closest to Nur Hossain. Nur had always graced Arif with money and other facilities in exchange of certain services and favours.
Investigators however are yet to find exactly how much money had been exchanged for the murders.
“So far they [the arrested] have given all confusing information about the amount. But, among the three, Arif has provided most of the information,” one of the investigators said.
Arif also told during interrogation that the abductees had been confined at the office of RAB 11 at Adomzi until late into that night. They were taken to the old court camp later.
“When Nazrul’s family went to the RAB office to talk with the commanding officer, the abductees were already confined to a room there. They were all unconscious,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to another source in Narayanganj police, on the night of April 26, Rana went to Nur Hossain’s Shiddhirganj office wearing a Panjabi and held a meeting with Nur. He went there once again on the evening of April 28.
Asked whether this information was included in the police progress report submitted to the High Court, the investigator said he had no idea.
“The police high ups are supposed to prepare the progress report,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Narayanganj court yesterday placed Rana on a fresh five-day remand.
Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mahiuddin passed the order when DB Inspector Mamunur Rashid Mondal, the investigation officer of the case, produced him on the expiration of his second spell of eight-day remand.
In his forwarding, the investigation officer told the court that evidence indicated that Rana had been involved in the seven murders and therefore needed to be taken into fresh a seven-day remand.
“Important information has already been gleaned during interrogation. He needs to be grilled again for further information,” SI Mamunur said.
Former RAB 11 chief Tarek and Arif are now on their third-phase of five-day remand.
The investigation officer told the court earlier that they had found Tarek and Arif’s direct involvement with the abduction and murder.
