Faruqi murder: ‘Mystery woman’ held

Police have detained two people, including a woman from Murapara area of Narayanganj’s Rupganj for her alleged involvement with the murder of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leader Shaikh Nurul Islam Faruqi.

The detainees are Mahmuda, who introduced herself as Asma and met the slain Islamic scholar several hours before the murder on Wednesday “only to see him” and one Shariful Islam.

Rupganj police station Officer-in-Charge MD Mahmud told the Dhaka Tribune: “A joint team of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and Rupganj police raided a house in Murapara area of Rupganj and held them for questioning.”

“Earlier in the day, a team of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police reached here and sought our help in order to hold the woman. Later, she was picked up around 10:30am. The Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police team left Rupganj with the detainees for Dhaka. They will be shown arrested in Faruqi murder case.”

Police were trying to track down the woman since her story came to the light.

The mystery woman had telephoned the slain cleric repeatedly in order to visit him at his home.

Witnesses said the woman, who looked to be in her forties, was nervous and behaved oddly during her two-hour stay at Faruqi’s house.

Faruqi’s wife, Lubna, told the Dhaka Tribune: “If she is caught, the main culprits will be traced.”

On Wednesday night, unidentified armed assailants slaughtered Faruqi, a presenter of religious programmes on Channel i, at his residence in the capital’s east Rajabazar area.

The deceased was the presidium member and international affairs secretary of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat – an organisation known for opposing the views of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Apart from anchoring the “Shantir Pothe” and “Kafela” programmes on Channel i, he owned Faruque Tours and Travels Private Limited, a Hajj travel agency, and served as the imam of the Supreme Court Mosque.

Source: Dhaka Tribune