Judicial statements of former three Rab 11 officers confessing their involvements in the chilling seven murders in Narayanganj is being considered by investigators a major progress in the investigation.
They, however, think there is still a long way to go before the whole process ends.
“Their statements revealed involvements of many other members of the elite crime-busting force Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] and names of civil people,” an official linked with the investigation said in return for anonymity.
“We will have to sift through all information and look into the involvements of the people named by the three officers and it will take a long time.”
Those three officers divulged involvement of more than two dozen of the force’s men in RAB 11 in their statements, said the sources.
Besides, the name of Zia, a high official of the RAB, came to the fore in the statements in which they said the murders had happened at the behest of Zia.
Apart from this, the investigators need Nur Hossain, prime accused in the case who slipped into India soon after the murders. He, however, was arrested and is now under trial in a Kolkata court in West Bengal of India for his illegal intrusion there.
Mamunur Rashid Mondal, the investigation officer of the case, yesterday said: “It is a huge case; we have to bring out each and every nitty-gritty of the incident and that is why it will take long time to complete the probe.”
He, however, declined to say anything about the investigation.
Seven people were killed after abduction at the end of April in the port city of Narayanganj. Of them, lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were not the target of the killers.
The prime target of the killers was to kill Nazrul Islam, a ruling Awami League leader and a ward commissioner and panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation.
None of the six accused including much-talked-about Nur Hossain in the case has yet been arrested (Kolkata police arrested Nur Hossain for his illegal entry to India, nor for murders).
The three former RAB officers – Lt Col (retd) Tarek Sayeed Mohammad, former commanding officer of Rab 11, Major (retd) Arif Hossain and Lt Commander (retd) MM Rana were first removed from their jobs in the forces on suspicion and later arrested.
After their arrest and during interrogation while on police remand the former RAB trio gave confessional statements separately where they narrated the plot of killings.
They also talked about the rivalry and conflicts between Nur Hossain and Nazrul and other politicians either for political interest or financial interest.
The sources involved in the investigation said they needed Nur Hossain badly to unearth the other side of the plot.
“Nur Hossain’s involvement came up in the confessional statements of the RAB officers,” said a source who skimmed the copies of the statements.
“If we get back Nur Hossain definitely we will get names of his men who were involved either directly or indirectly in the killing mission. This is why it is taking time,” explained a police officer involved in the investigation in return for anonymity.
The investigators are hopeful about getting Nur Hossain back from India soon. When asked If India does not extradite Nur soon the police officer said: “In that case we will think about it later.”
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, meantime, in yesterday’s parliament session said, the Indian government agreed to send back Nur Hossain. He made the disclosure replying to a question of an opposition lawmaker.
The sources said the most challenging task for the investigators is to dig out the involvement of all other RAB personnel including a high official along with the role of Nur Hossain.
“So it not a little case rather it is a very big case to deal with,” said a source.
A highly placed police officer who has knowledge about the content of confessional statements old the Dhaka Tribune about Arif’s statement: “This is a well compiled and a complete confessional statement...I can only tell you that many issues have come up in the statement...It is a good statement for the investigation and it will help to reveal truth.”
Arif was the first among the three former RAB officers who gave confessional statement and later Rana and Tarek gave their statements. Sources said there are similarities between their statements.
