The last phone call made by twenty-four-year-old Dr Shamaruf Mahzabin Kona to her father may have cost her her life.
Engineer Nurul Islam, Kona’s father, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that Kona called him just a day before her dead body was recovered by police.
“During the phone call around 11am on Thursday, Kona told me that had got hold of some documents about her father-in-law Khan Tipu Sultan’s illegal activities while cleaning the house,” Nurul said.
Nurul said Kona told him that she was “frightened” because the documents contained sensitive information about her father-in-law, which she did not want to disclose over the phone.
Nurul Islam alleged that Kona’s father-in-law could have overheard the conversation between them, killed her for it, and was now claiming her death was “suicide.”
Nurul said Kona’s father-in-law remarried in secret.
“I have a strong suspicion that Kona might have found documents about drug dealing, prostitution, arms trading or murder connected with former member of parliament Tipu and she was killed to cover it up,” Nurul Islam said.
Police recovered the dead body of Dr Shamaruf Mahzabin Kona, wife of ex-MP Tipu Sultan’s son Humayun Sultan, from Dhanmondi Central Hospital.
The victim’s father, Nurul Islam, filed a murder case with Dhanmondi police station accusing Humayun, ex-MP Tipu and his wife Dr Jesmin Ara Begum.
Although police arrested Humayun after getting the murder complaint, they have not arrested the former parliamentarian or his wife saying they would keep an eye on them and would make the arrest after getting the autopsy report from Dhaka Medical College.
Humayun is in jail awaiting a hearing on remand to be held today, Abu Bakkar Siddique, officer-in-charge (OC) of Dhanmondi police station, told the Dhaka Tribune.
From the beginning, the ex-MP’s family has claimed that Dr Shamaruf committed suicide by hanging herself from the window grill of the bathroom.
The inquest report, however, mentions other injury marks on her body apart from the black mark on her throat.
Kona’s father Nurul Islam, an engineer of the Public Works Department, said he told the police about the 32-minute call between him and his daughter the day before her death. He also said that Kona’s mother died on November 11, 2012.
Tipu’s family asked for Kona’s hand for Humayun saying he is a barrister by profession. We gave priority to his profession over his family’s political ties, said Nurul.
After the marriage ceremony on April 26 last year, we found out that Humayun had basically just completed an LLB degree from a private organisation and was not a barrister, Nurul said.
Moreover, Humayun was a drug addict and Kona tried her best to save him from his drug-wrecked life, Nurul said.
Nurul said his daughter was forced to obey her mother-in-law and father-in-law’s orders.
After the completion of her MBBS degree, the ex-MP’s family verbally harassed her for enrolling for the FCPS degree at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
“The family forced her to do housework and Kona found the documents implicating her father-in-law while cleaning the house,” Nurul Islam added.
Khan Tipu Sultan, a former Jessore MP, said if investigators found evidence of his son’s guilt, then he and his family would show respect the law.
Abu Bakkar Siddique, OC of Dhanmondi, said they would not arrest the two other accused in the case because they are respected persons.
He said he could not comment on the ongoing investigation at the moment.
He said the police were analysing the details of phone record of Kona and other family members.
