Rifat Murder: Cops arrest four more

Police yesterday arrested four more people, including two accused, in connection with the killing of Barguna’s Shah Newaj Rifat Sharif while the three key accused are still at large.

Ridoy, 21, Oli, 22, Tanvir, 23, and Sagor, 22, were arrested from different locations in Barguna town, police said.

Of them, Ridoy and Oli were named in the First Information Report while the other two were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the killing.

A total of eight people have so far been arrested in a case filed over the murder. The other four who got arrested earlier are Chandan, Hasan, Najmul and Saimun.

Police did not reveal any detail about the arrests of Ridoy and Oli for the sake of investigation.

Tanvir was arrested from Barguna town early yesterday while Sagor was held from Barguna Police Lines area around 10:00am yesterday, police said.

Tanvir allegedly carried the sharp weapons, which were used in the attack, to the spot while Sagor was a member of the Facebook chat group where the murder was plotted, said police sources.

Maruf Hossain, superintendent of police (SP) in Barguna, briefed the journalists about the development of the case at his office yesterday.

Sagor, son of retired school teacher Abdul Latif from Paschim Amtalapar area in Barguna town, was primarily selected for the position of constable in Barguna Police, he said.

Police arrested him when he went to Barguna Police Lines in the morning to appear for the medical tests for the recruitment, the SP said, adding that he (Sagor) would not be considered for the recruitment for being arrested in a criminal case.

Sagor, however, denied his involvement in the murder during primary interrogation, SP Maruf added.

He was a member of the Facebook chat group “007”. The group was managed by Nayan and Rifat, police said.

Screenshots of the conversation, that went viral on the social media, showed Rifat Farajee posted on the group at 8:06am on Wednesday asking everyone to meet in front of Barguna Government College around 9:00am, police sources claimed.

Sagor allegedly replied the post with an affirmative “V” sign, police also said.

However, the three key accused of the murder case -- Nayon, Rifat Farajee and Rishan Farajee -- were still on the run till filing the report around 8:00pm last night.

Rifat Sharif was hacked to death by a group of criminals in broad daylight in front of his wife near Barguna Government College on June 26.  Later on the night, the victim’s father filed a murder case accusing 12 people with Barguna Sadar Police Station.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said actions would be taken if the negligence of any policeman is found during the investigation of the murder case, reports UNB.

“Those involved in the incident won’t be spared and a bit more time will be needed to arrest the attackers,” he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.

The minister further said, “Killing a young man in broad daylight is not acceptable to us. It is a heinous crime.”

HC REFUSES PETITION

Two separate High Court benches yesterday refused to hear a writ petition that sought its directive on the law enforcers to arrest all the accused of Rifat Sharif’s murder case in 24 hours.

Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond submitted the petition as public interest litigation yesterday morning also seeking its order on the government to issue red alert against the accused and to ensure security of the people of whole country. 

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashraful Kamal declined to hear the petition saying that the law enforcers have already arrested some of the accused and were trying to arrest the rest, Advocate Eunus told The Daily Star.  

He said another HC bench of Justice of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil also refrained from hearing the same petition and advised him (Eunus) to move the petition before another bench.

PROTEST

Meanwhile, the district unit BNP and its front organisations yesterday formed a human chain in front of Barguna press club around 10:00am protesting the killing and demanding immediate arrest of all the accused.

Our Patuakhali correspondent contributed to the story.