Rifat Murder: Another key suspect held

Police arrested another key suspect in Rifat murder case in Barguna yesterday.

Rishan Farazi was arrested in the town around 10:00am, said Maruf Hossain, superintendent of police in the district.

However, the officer did not disclose where he had been hiding.

Rishan and his brother Rifat Farazi, both accused in the case, are the nephews of Barguna District Council Chairman Delwar Hossain.

Fifteen suspects, including the victim’s widow Aysha Siddika Minni, have been arrested so far.

“Since it primarily seemed that Minni was involved [in the murder], she had been placed on a 5-day remand,” Maruf told The Daily Star last night.

Minni was arrested on Tuesday and placed on remand the following day. No lawyer represented her at the remand hearing.

Minni’s father Mozammel Hossain Kishor said his daughter was the victim of  a conspiracy designed to save a powerful quarter.

Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday rejected a prayer for cancelling the remand. The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader said it would not interfere into the investigation.

Earlier in the day, Supreme Court lawyer Faruk Hossain placed before the HC bench several newspaper reports on Minni’s remand in the.

He told the court that Minni is the principal witness of the case but police arrested her as an accused. She was placed on the remand although no lawyer defended her, he said, adding that this would deter other witnesses from making statements before the lower court.

Minni is yet to recover from the shock of her husband’s killing. Her arrest is illogical, Faruk said.

The lawyer prayed to the HC to direct the lower court on a suomoto move to cancel the remand order.

Minni’s father Mozammel Hossain Kishor, said that he had requested three lawyers to represent his daughter at the remand hearing, but none of them agreed to do so.

“We are living in fear… We don’t know what to do,” he told The Daily Star.

Also yesterday, another accused Arian Shrabon gave confessional statement before Senior Judicial Magistrate Sirajul Islam Gazi, said Inspector Humayun Kabir who is investigating the case.

The court sent him to jail after recording the statement. So far 11 accused gave confessional statements.

Inspector Humayun said police were trying to arrest four other suspects. They are Musa, Mohaiminul Islam Sifat, Rayhan and Hasan.

On June 26, Rifat Sharif, a 25-year-old internet service provider, was hacked by a group of young men in broad daylight. In a video footage of the incident that went viral on social media, the victim’s wife Minni was seen screaming and trying in vain to save her husband from the assailants.

The victim’s father filed a case with Barguna Sadar Police Station accusing 12 people. The prime accused in the case, Sabbir Hossain Nayan who went by the name of Nayon Bond, was killed in a “gunfight” with police on July 2.