Son-in-law the mastermind

The murder of Jarina Khatun on a moving bus in Ashulia was orchestrated by her son-in-law and his family members, following a family feud, said police.

As part of the plan, they contracted the bus driver and his three associates for Tk 10,000, and accompanied the victim and her father to the bus stand to be boarded on the Tangail-bound bus.

Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) came up with the findings yesterday, a day after the arrest of Jarina's son-in-law Noor Islam, 29, his mother Amena Begum, 48, and the matchmaker Swapan, 35, from different areas in Dhaka.

Police seized the bus and identified the four staffers, who are still on the run, said PBI Deputy Inspector General Banaj Kumar Majumder while briefing reporters at its headquarters in the city.

Jarina, 45, was killed in the moving bus after her 75-year-old father Akbar Ali Mondal was pushed off the vehicle on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Ashulia on November 9. They were supposed to return to Tangail after visiting her daughter Rozina, who recently became a mother.

The mastermind, Noor, filed a case with Ashulia Police Station the next day.

PBI suspected that Jarina was strangled to death. They are waiting for the autopsy report to confirm the cause of death.

The PBI chief said there was a conflict between Rozina and her in-laws ever since she had been married to Noor five years ago.

They used to get angry at Jarina as she used to visit her daughter whenever she had a fight with her husband. Noor and his family always blamed Jarina for the conflict.

As Jarina and her father came to Noor's house on November 9 following a family feud, Noor and his family members devised the plan.

Noor put the plan into motion by hiring the driver and his associates. On that afternoon, Noor and Swapan accompanied Jarina and her father to the bus stand and asked them to board a bus, which the four staffers parked there beforehand. The bus set off without any other passengers, PBI official said.

Jarina's father Akbar Ali, present at the briefing, said he asked them if they would take any other passengers but they did not reply.

“After a while, they started beating me… my daughter tried to save me, they started beating her too. At one stage, they slowed down at a quiet place and pushed me off the bus,” he said.

Akbar reported the incident to a police patrol, who found Jarina's body near Moragang area by the highway.

“My daughter was snatched away from me and killed,” said Akbar in a chocked voice. He demanded exemplary punishment for the killers.

Contacted, bus owner Nazmul Islam Torab told The Daily Star, “The driver, Salam, sent me the key of the bus through a helper on November 10. He [helper] told me that Salam would not drive the bus anymore.”

Salam and his three associates have been traceless since then.