Another accused confesses involvement

Another accused in the Habiganj four-child murder case confessed to his involvement in the murders before a court in the district yesterday.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Kawsher Alam recorded the confessional statement of Shahed Ali, nephew of the key accused Abdul Ali, said police.

In his deposition, Shahed told the court that nine people took part in the killing and they used two auto-rickshaws to pick up the children and then carry their bodies for burial, said Inspector (detectives) Muktadir Hossain, also the investigation officer in the case.

With him, four out of seven suspects gave confessional statements before courts.

Bodies of the children -- Monir Miah, 7, Zakaria Shuvo, 8, Mohammad Tajel Mia, 10, and Ismail Miah, 10 -- were recovered beneath sand on February 17, five days after they had gone missing from a playground in their village Sundratiki under Bahubal Upazila.

On February 25, Bachchu Mia, an accused in the case, was killed in a "gunfight" with the Rapid Action Battalion in the district's Chunarughat upazila, eight days after law enforcers allegedly picked him up.