NARAYANGANJ SEVEN-MURDER Nur Hossain’s accountant describes his involvement

Although Nur Hossain, the prime accused in Narayanganj seven-murder case, has been denying his involvement in the crime, his accountant Ali Mohammad said otherwise in a confessional statement yesterday.

Ali not only described the role of his boss in the gruesome seven murders but also implicated members of the Rapid Action Battalion role in the abduction and killing, said Shakhawat Hossain, the president of Narayanganj district lawyers’ association.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Chandni Rupom recorded Ali’s confessional statement for four hours.

Quoting the accountant, an official of Narayanganj district police said Nur had planned to abduct and kill panel mayor Nazrul Islam several months before the incident. He had also made a deal with RAB to execute the plan.

After abducting the seven people on April 27, Nur contacted Ali Mohammad over phone for making arrangements to dump the bodies.

He asked Ali to clear a “Balu Mahal” (open air sand depot), an area that Nur has controlled for many years for trading sand and stone along the bank of the Shitalakkhya River.

Around 9pm, Ali reached the spot and asked people, including sand workers, to leave the area.

When the RAB car carrying the seven slain people reached the place, the RAB men called Ali to guard the bodies until they could load those on a trawler.

Nur Hossain kept contacting Ali over phone during the whole process. Ali returned from the spot after the trawler had left.

Shakhawat Hossain said Ali’s statements came useful in the two cases as he was a direct witness of the incident.

Inspector of Narayanganj district court Habibur Rahman said Ali was sent to court after his statement had been recorded.

Ali was arrested on July 19 in Akhaura of Brahmanbaria and was placed on a six-day remand.

He was not only Nur’s accountant but also an associate in most of Nur’s criminal activities, including drug dealings, extortion in the transport sector, murders and abductions, said the Naraynaganj district police official, seeking anonymity.

Nur Hossain stands accused of the gruesome abduction and killing of seven people, including Narayanganj city panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar. The seven were abducted on April 27 in the city and six bodies were seen floating in the Shitalakkhya River on April 30. The seventh surfaced the next day.

Nur, councillor of ward 4 and a close aide to Narayanganj 4 Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman, fled the country to India when law enforcers went looking for him in connection with the murders. An anti-terrorism squad of Kolkata police arrested Nur along with two of his associates there and placed on remand for intruding into the country.