Rangpur police yesterday detained two private bank employees from Rajshahi in connection with the murder of Japanese national Hoshi Kunio.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police’s spokesperson Shushanto Chandra Roy confirmed their detention. He said they were being taken to Rangpur.
The detainees are Shahriar and Nahid.
Shahriar is a private bank’s credit card officer and Nahid it’s sales and service officer, according to sources at the bank.
They are colleagues of Jahangir Alam Bulbul, brother-in-law of Humayun Kabir Hira, one of the two suspects remanded by police in connection with Kunio’s murder.
Earlier on Thursday, Rangpur police detained Bulbul’s father-in-law, sister-in-law and her husband. Bulbul has gone into hiding since then.
Meanwhile, police have detained four others for questioning in this connection, their families alleged.
They are Abdur Rashid, 40; Abed, 35; Abdullah, 21; and Sweet, 30. The first three are from Alutari village of Kaunia while the fourth one is from Pabna.
Families of Rashid, Abed and Abdullah are still in the dark about their whereabouts.
Rashid and Abed are poor, landless farmers who used to work at Kunio’s farm. Their families are outraged that the farmers who were on such good terms with the Japanese man could be detained in connection with his killing.
Mallika, Rashid’s wife, alleged that five to six men posing as detectives picked up her husband around 1:30am Thursday. She said they promised her to bring him back soon after questioning.
“I simply cannot understand how farmers who once worked for the slain man’s grass farm could help find the murderers?” asked Mallika, 30.
“Dozens of people worked at the farm. Is it a crime?” asked Abed’s wife Monwara, 30.
Sweet was picked up from Shalgariya in Pabna around 12:00pm, alleged his family.
Sultana Khatun, Hira’s wife, said Sweet is her cousin.
“Why are they [police] harassing all these innocent people,” said Sultana.
Alamgir Kabir, Pabna’s superintendent of police (SP), said Rangpur police have been on an operation in his area and he did not know why.
Rangpur’s SP Abdur Razzaq, however, refused to meet journalists.
Though Kaunia police station’s Officer-in-Charge Rezaul Karim claimed to have released Murad Hossain and Monnaf Ali, their families refuted his claim.
“Murad is still in police custody,” said his elder sister Nurjahan.
Monnaf, Murad, Hira and Zakariya Bala were detained for questioning the day Kunio was gunned down.
Monnaf, a rickshaw puller, used to take Kunio to his grass farm. Hira also gave Kunio rides on his motorbike and was one of those who brought Kunio to a hospital after he was shot. Hira has his own fisheries project near Kunio’s farm.
Kunio stayed in Zakariya Bala’s house whenever he was in Kaunia. Bala was picked up from the hospital after Kunio’s death a week ago and was not released yet.
Cops took Zakariya’s wife Ayesha in custody from Rangpur Medical College and Hospital where she went to attend her husband who had suffered a cardiac arrest following police detention.
They are still in police custody, according to Zakariya’s niece Akifa Akhter.
