Five days after the death of Willes Little Flower School and College student Suraiya Akhter Risha (14), her murderer Obaidul Khan (29) was arrested with the help of Nilphamari meat trader Dulal Hossain.
Obaidul Khan had been in hiding in Sonaray, Domar upazila. Acting upon information, the police and RAB-13 organised a joint operation in the area on Tuesday night. Police distributed his picture among the people there and asked for their aid in arresting him.
On Wednesday, while coming to open his shop, Dulal Hossain (40) saw a stranger wandering around the bazaar. Deeming him suspicious, Dulal and easy-bike driver Ismail Hossain (35) managed to detain him and inform the police.
Dulal and Ismail spoke with Prothom Alo on Wednesday. Dulal lives in Hironchara village and Ismail in Sonaray.
“I saw the person roaming around the bazaar. It seemed like he was waiting for a bus. A BRTC bus stopped at the bazaar and left for Nilphamari, but the person didn’t get on. Instead, he started walking down the main road,” Dulal described what he saw.
A bit later, Dulal met Ismail and discussed this. The two got on a motorcycle and tracked down the stranger half a kilometer from the bazaar. Ismail identified the stranger as Obaidul Khan, the suspect the police distributed pictures of the night before.
“We detained him and questioned him. At one point he even confessed to us. He hadn’t eaten since last night, so we took him to a restaurant to eat. After we informed the police, they took him away at around 8 am,” Dulal continued.
According to Ismail, Obaidul had admitted to have been hiding in the shrubs while the operation was ongoing the night before.
Nilphamari police super Zakir Hossain said, “At 8:10 am, Obaidul Khan was arrested in a joint operation by Dhaka Metropolitan Police and RAB. At around 12 pm, additional police super HM Azimul Haque took him under custody and started for Dhaka”.
Risha, daughter of Md Ramzan Ali and an eighth-grader of Willes Little Flower School and College, was stabbed by Obaidul in front of her school at Kakrail in the capital on 24 August.
She succumbed to her wounds at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 28 August.
Source: Prothom Alo