Former superintendent of police Babul Akter tried to have his wife, Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, killed even when he was on a mission in Sudan in 2014, the deceased's Mitu's father, Mosharraf Hossain said while testifying against Babul in her murder case.
On Tuesday, the second day of recording testimonies in the case, Mosharraf, the plaintiff, gave his incomplete testimony. Third Additional Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jasim Uddin also testified.
According to court sources, Mosharraf Hossain said in court Babul paid Tk70,000 to hire killers to murder Mitu. The money went to killer-for-hire Kamrul Islam alias Musa through Babul's friend, press owner Saiful.
He also told the court: "Babul Akhtar fell in love with Gayatri Amar Singh, a foreign working in an NGO in Cox's Bazar. Because of this, he made several plans to get rid of his wife, considering her to be a hindrance."
"Even when Babul was on a mission in Sudan in 2014, there were still attempts to kill Mitu. He did not succeed. After that, when he was in China, he planned to kill her again and failed. The hired killers for the third time failed to plan to kill Mitu on June 1, 2016. The last time Babul was in Dhaka, he succeeded in killing Mitu on June 5, 2016."
Meanwhile, in the afternoon, Babul was produced before the court.
Babul and Mitu's son Akhter Mahmud Mahir and daughter Tapur also came to the court along with Babul's current wife. At the time, Babul broke down while holding his children.
Prosecution lawyer Abdur Rashid said: "Mitu's father, Mosharraf Hossain, the plaintiff in the murder case testified in the court. Before that, his testimony began on April 9. Today, he gave his unfinished testimony in court for the second day. The next trial date has been fixed on May 8.”
Babul Akhter's lawyer Golam Mawla Murad said: "Mitu's father's testimony is over. Cross-examination has started. The rest of it will be held on the next scheduled date.”
"The children were allowed to meet their father on the court's orders. They met during lunch break. Then Babul broke down in tears hugging the two children. Even the children were also crying," he said.
During the testimony, Shahjahan Mia, Motaleb Mia Prakash alias Wasim, Anwar Hossain, and Shahjahan Mia were present in court while Quamrul Islam Shikdar alias Musa and Khairul Islam alias Kalu remained absconding.
Ehteshamul Haque Bhola, who is on bail among the accused in this case, was also present in the court.
On March 13, the court decided to start the trial after framing charges against seven accused including Babul Akter.
On June 5, 2016, unidentified assailants gunned down Mitu at Chittagong's GEC intersection while she was on her way to drop her son Mahir Akter, 7, at the pickup spot for his school bus.
Soon after the crime, Babul filed a murder case at Panchlaish police station against three unidentified men.
The case was transferred to the Police Bureau Investigation (PBI) in 2019 after Mitu's father, himself a retired police officer, filed a complaint against the CMP's mishandling of the case.
On May 12, 2021, the PBI submitted its final report and arrested Babul Akter in another case filed by Mitu's father and since then he has been in prison.
Babul Akter also filed a no-confidence petition against the PBI report on October 14, 2021.
On November 3 last year, a Chittagong Court rejected the final report of PBI in the murder case and ordered it to conduct further investigation.
