SP wifes murder
Smokescreen over prime suspect Musa
He was picked up by police on June 22, alleges wife
STAFF REPORTER, Ctg
Where is Kamrul Sikder, alias Abu Musa? The question doing the rounds is whether Musa, prime suspect in the murder of Mahamuda Khanam Mitu, wife of SP Babul Akter, is alive or has he become a victim of forced disappearance. There are allegations that the police are trying to shield someone on whose instructions Musa hired Wasim, Anwar, Nabi, Kalu, Shahjan and Rashed to kill Mitu. People wonder that if Musa cannot be traced, how have the police come to know that someone gave orders to Musa to kill Mitu. Unless Musa is traced, the murder mystery would remain unresolved. The police had earlier said that Musa was arrested. His wife Panna Akter also claimed that he was picked up by the police from the Bandar area on June 22. But now the police are in a denial mode. Sources which had said that Musa was arrested are now refusing to talk about him any more. The police arrested four persons over the murder. Two of them made confessional statements before the court that they were hired by Musa to kill Mitu. Arms and the motorcycle used in the murder were seized. Those arrested clearly said that they were hired by Musa and did not plan the killing. According to the police, Musa is the mastermind behind the murder and is on the run. However, Musas family members insist that he was picked up by the police. Policemen in plain clothes arrested Musa from my relatives house in the Bandar area on June 22. They assured us that they will release him, but that has not been done. I, along with my two sons, was present when the police picked Musa. When my husband was picked up, my two sons started crying. The policemen consoled them and said they would release my husband, Panna Akhter told The Independent yesterday (Thursday).
Iqbal Bahar, commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), told The Independent: We are yet to arrest Musa. This talk about forced disappearance is utter rubbish.
However, police sources had earlier said that Musa was arrested. Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media on Saturday that some suspects in the murder case were quizzed by Babul Akter for 15 hours in Dhaka.
Wasim and Anwar were arrested from Chittagong on Saturday night, and Ehteshamul Haque, alias Haniful Haque, alias Bola, suspected arms supplier, was picked up on Monday night.
Musa had been working as a police informer and was known to Babul Akter, said Panna Akter. Musa hails from Moddhom Gaschara village in Rangunia upazila. He was living in a rented house in the citys Kalamia Bazar area, but his family has not been staying there after the incident, said his wife. Musa was a Saudi expatriate. He returned from Saudi Arabia in 2000 and started working as a police informer from 2002. He has two sons - a nine-year-old and a 12-year-old. It is said that Musa is yet to return to Chittagong after he was taken to Dhaka to face Babul Akter. On the other hand, Md Kamruzzaman, assistant commissioner of CMP (DB), who is also the investigating officer of the case, said: Our drive to nab Musa continues. He gave orders to kill Mitu. Our three teams are working to arrest Musa, Kalu, Rashed and Nabi. We hope to soon catch the killers, including Musa. On June 5, Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, 32, wife of Babul Akter, Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Dhaka police headquarters, was stabbed and shot dead at the GEC Circle in Chittagong near her home by a group of motorcycle-borne miscreants. She had gone there to put her son on a school bus.
