Police are yet to make any headway into the murder of Islamic Front leader Nurul Islam Farooqi.
“The motive for murder is still unclear,” detective police’s Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Nazmul Alam told bdnews24.com on Sunday.
Islami Chhatra Sena enforced a half-day general strike across Bangladesh protesting against the killing of Farooqi, a central leader of Islamic Front and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.
Farooqi, who hosted Islamic programmes on a private channel, was hacked to death at his Dhaka home on Aug 27.
His family claimed people, who opposed to his belief, had killed him.
“It’s a really sensitive incident, different from other killings,” police officer Alam said.
He said anything from differences in ideals to clashes over business and family feud could be the motive.
“We want to continue investigation considering every possibility.”
People close to Farooqi say he had been threatened over his ideals before. The Chhatra Sena has been suspecting several TV show hosts for the murder.
Farooqi used to send people to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. On the day of the killing, several people entered his house saying they would like to go on Hajj.
The Islamic Front leader had two wives. He lived with his second wife and children at his Rajabazar residence.
So far, three persons, including a woman, have been arrested over the incident.
The woman, Mahmuda Khatun, had gone to Farooqi’s home several hours before the killing. Farooqi’s family claims Mahmuda’s behaviour was suspicious.
She is currently being interrogated by police.
Detective police’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Ashiqur Rahman said they were looking into two things Mahmuda had told them about.
Mahmuda, from Satkhira’s Taltala village, moved to Dhaka in 1983 with her 5-year-old son after her husband’s death.
She took up a job at a garment factory in Mirpur and spent most of the time in Narayanganj.
Police wonder why she returned to Satkhira to purchase land there and why she wanted to stay at Farooqi’s house on Aug 27.
Mahmuda told them that she bought land in Satkhira as two of her brothers – Abdur Gafur and Abdur Rahim – lived there.
She said she wanted to stay at Farooqi’s home to learn about religious issues.
Police said Mahmuda’s son, who studied electrical engineering at a private university, was detached from her after he married.
She claimed to have gone to Farooqi to learn ways to bridge the gap.
Police arrested Shariful Islam in Narayanganj and another ‘Yusuf’ in Comilla on Saturday.
Both Shariful and Mahmuda were taken on remand on Sunday.
Police say Shariful works at a tailoring shop in Narayanganj and used to teach Mahmuda tailoring.
Farooqi’s son Faisal Farooqi filed a case against several unknown persons on the night of the killing with Sher-e-Bangla police.
Source: bdnews24
