Mitu murder still remains a mystery

One of the most shocking and saddening incidents of 2016 was the murder of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, 32, wife of Babul Akter, former superintendent of police (SP) of Chittagong, on June 5.
Mitu, a homemaker, was stabbed and shot dead near her home at GEC Circle in Chittagong by a group of bikers when she was escorting her son to his school bus.
The Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) is still in the dock over its failure to solve the case. 
While working as additional deputy police commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of the CMP, Babul, who conducted many tough drives against militants and smugglers, was promoted to the post of SP.
Incidentally, Mitu was killed on the very day he was supposed to join the headquarters as SP.
Five investigation teams were formed. With the DB of CMP, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) and the Counter Terrorism Unit started an investigation. At first, police thought Mitu had paid the price for Babul’s dauntless fight against militants.
Police launched a crackdown all over the country and nabbed many militants. On June 8, they arrested Abu Nasor Gunno, 40, from Musabia shrine in West Forahadabad of Hathazari upazila and claimed that he was involved with the murder.
However, Gunno’s family alleged in a press conference that police implicated him in the case by taking a handsome bribe from his rival group following a dispute over the organising committee of the shrine. 
Gunno eventually walked out on bail. Police then arrested Shahjan Robin, who is still in prison. 

However, the law enforcers later admitted that neither of the two has any link with the murder.
On June 24, in a dramatic turn of events, Babul was quizzed for 15 hours after police “picked him up” from his father-in-law’s Banashri house, where he now lives. Babul made headlines as the suspected planner of the murder. 
On September 6, a gazette notification from the home affairs ministry said Babul was terminated from his post after he willingly submitted his resignation letter on August 9. He is now serving in a private hospital. Soon after that, nine names cropped up in connection with the murder. 
So far, police have arrested seven persons. Of them, Washim and Anwar gave confessional statements in court under Section 164 on June 26 that they had taken part in the murder. They were led by Kamrul Sikder, alias Abu Musa, they said.
Musa is still missing. He was part of a four-member gang, of which two, Rasel and Nabi, were killed in a gunfight with police at Rangunia in Chittagong on (date). According to police, the other two, Musa and Kalu, fled the scene. 
However, Musa’s wife Panna Akhter alleged that police had picked up Musa. She claimed that police had picked him up from a relative’s home in Bandar on July 22. 
However, police have denied the claim. The investigating officer of the Mitu murder case, deputy police commissioner (DB) Md Kamruzzaman said, “To dig out the whole matter, we've to first catch Musa.”
But Musa remains elusive. Questions have been raised about whether he is alive or has become a victim of “forced disappearance”.  There have also been allegations that the police are trying to shield someone. People have wondered that if Musa could not be traced, how the police could know that someone had ordered Musa to kill Mitu. 
However, unless Musa is traced, Mitu’s murder mystery might just remain unsolved.

Mitu murder still remains a mystery

One of the most shocking and saddening incidents of 2016 was the murder of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, 32, wife of Babul Akter, former superintendent of police (SP) of Chittagong, on June 5. Mitu, a homemaker, was stabbed and shot dead near her home at GEC Circle in Chittagong by a group of bikers when she was escorting her son to his school bus. The Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) is still in the dock over its failure to solve the case. While working as additional deputy police commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of the CMP, Babul, who conducted many tough drives against militants and smugglers, was promoted to the post of SP. Incidentally, Mitu was killed on the very day he was supposed to join the headquarters as SP. Five investigation teams were formed. With the DB of CMP, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) and the Counter Terrorism Unit started an investigation. At first, police thought Mitu had paid the price for Babuls dauntless fight against militants. Police launched a crackdown all over the country and nabbed many militants. On June 8, they arrested Abu Nasor Gunno, 40, from Musabia shrine in West Forahadabad of Hathazari upazila and claimed that he was involved with the murder. However, Gunnos family alleged in a press conference that police implicated him in the case by taking a handsome bribe from his rival group following a dispute over the organising committee of the shrine. Gunno eventually walked out on bail. Police then arrestedShahjan Robin, who is still in prison. However, the law enforcers later admitted that neither of the two has any link with the murder. On June 24, in a dramatic turn of events, Babul was quizzed for 15 hours after police picked him up from his father-in-laws Banashri house, where he now lives. Babul made headlines as the suspected planner of the murder. On September 6, a gazette notification from the home affairs ministry said Babul was terminated from his post after he willingly submitted his resignation letter on August 9. He is now serving in a private hospital. Soon after that, nine names cropped up in connection with the murder. So far, police have arrested seven persons. Of them, Washim and Anwar gave confessional statements in court under Section 164 on June 26 that they had taken part in the murder. They were led by Kamrul Sikder, alias Abu Musa, they said. Musa is still missing. He was part of a four-member gang, of which two, Rasel and Nabi, were killed in a gunfight with police at Rangunia in Chittagong on (date). According to police, the other two, Musa and Kalu, fled the scene. However, Musas wife Panna Akhter alleged that police had picked up Musa. She claimed that police had picked him up from a relatives home in Bandar on July 22. However, police have denied the claim. The investigating officer of the Mitu murder case, deputy police commissioner (DB) Md Kamruzzaman said, To dig out the whole matter, weve to first catch Musa. But Musa remains elusive. Questions have been raised about whether he is alive or has become a victim of forced disappearance. There have also been allegations that the police are trying to shield someone. People have wondered that if Musa could not be traced, how the police could know that someone had ordered Musa to kill Mitu. However, unless Musa is traced, Mitus murder mystery might just remain unsolved.