Witness: RAB kept eye on Nazrul at court

A few aides of slain Narayanganj ward councillor Nazrul Islam have claimed that a person had shown unusual curiosity and kept Nazrul under watch in the courtroom on the day he was abducted.

A detective police yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that these aides had accompanied Nazrul in the courtroom on the day of the abduction and that they had given deposition along with Nazrul’s wifeSelina Islam Beauty, his brother Abdus Salam and father-in-law Shahidul Islam to the Narayanganj superintendent of police at his office yesterday.

The detective could name four of the aides – Abdul Baten, Jalal, Idris Ali and Arif. He said Nazrul’sassociates claimed to have charged that person in the courtroom, who had beard and was wearing a punjabi and a turban.Frisking him they felt a firearm on him.

Nazrul’s associates handed him over to the court police, to whom the man whispered something and the police released him, the four identified aides of Nazrul told the investigators yesterday.

When they demanded why the person had been released, the court police told them that he was a RAB personnel. Nazrul’s men verified this with the other RAB members present on the court premises.

Meanwhile, investigators have made little progress in six days since the recovery of the bodies of the abducted ward councillor and his aides and a lawyer and his driver from the Shitalakhya.

“We have not progressed enough. It will take time to reach the destination on the basis of what we have achieved so far,” Narayanganj Superintendent of PoliceKhandakerMohid Uddin told reporters yesterday.

He also said it was not their duty to investigate allegations against RAB and no higher authority had instructed them in this regard either. “Our duty is to investigate the case.”

The police chief said: “We are sure the killers are in the country. We have alerted the border force and the intelligence.”

The High Court on Monday ordered the government to keep the Rapid Action Battalion from probing the Narayanganj abductions and killings and asked the government to form a seven-member committee headed by an additional secretary of the Public Administration Ministryforthe investigation.

Narayanganj panel mayor and ward councillor Nazrul Islam, his four aides, senior lawyer ChandanSarker and his driver were abducted on April 27. Six bodies, including that of Nazrul and Chandan, were found floating in the ShitalakhyaRiver three days later; another body was found the following day.

In hisdeposition, Nazrul’s father-in-law ShahidulIslam alleged that an influential contractor of Narayanganj City Corporation named Abu Sufianhad been involved in the murders.

In support of his previous claim that some RAB men had abducted and murdered his son in exchange for Tk6 crore, Shahidul said the money had been transacted through private banks.

He said they had submitted their allegations in writing to the SP but declined to disclose the details of the allegations.

Selina told reporters: “We are sure that without the help of the law enforcers and the administration, no one can stage such a big incident. We want the police to find the whole thing.”

She said two days after the abduction of her husband, anonymous callershad started threatening them but that had stopped now. Selina urged all to stop making the abductions and murdersan issue for politics.

Nur aides’ firearms seized

Police yesterday seized two shotguns and several bullets, raiding the houses of two associates of fugitive Nur Hossain. Jamal and Nur Uddin, the aides to Nur Hossain, had licencesfor the guns, Abdul Matin, officer-in-charge of Siddhirganjpolice station, said.

The district administration yesterday cancelled the licences of 11 firearms, including the two owned by Nur Hossain and his aides, the OC added.

Police raided their house at Batenpara and found the arms.

Meanwhile, district lawyers yesterday threatened to lay siege to the RAB11 office on May 11 if the killers were not held.

President of Narayanganj Bar Association advocate Sakhawat Hossain Khan came up with the threat at a rally held in front of the District Bar Bhaban. The lawyers also observed a one-hour work abstention protesting the incident.

Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner Anisur Rahman went to Nazrul’s house around 7pm yesterday. He told Selina that the prime minister had asked them to visit her and give the assurancethat the killers would be arrested and justice would be ensured.