A case of mistaken identity
Family members of Habibur Rahman, who was killed in a “gunfight” with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-7) at Chittagong's Barisal Colony on May 17 amid the ongoing countrywide anti-narcotics drive, claimed that he was “innocent”.
They also said he was not the person the law enforcers were looking for.
A group of locals, mostly ruling party men, implicated Habib, 42, in false narcotics cases after allegedly failing to grab a land belonging to Habib's mother-in-law in the city's Love Lane area, claimed the family.
On May 17, around 11:00pm, two persons including Habib were killed in the “gunfight” with Rab at Barisal Colony, a haven for drug peddlers. The other deceased was Md Mosharraf alias Musa.
After the “shootout”, Rab seized a one-shooter-gun, three rounds of bullet, 10,000 yaba pills and half a kilogramme of hemp from the spot.
According to Rab, Habib was a “drug trader” and an accused in at least 12 cases.
His family members, however, claimed that the other deceased, Mosharraf, was an informant of Rab. He misled the officials by introducing Habib as a drug dealer named “Habib Sheikh”, who the officials were actually looking for.
“Habib was implicated in false narcotics cases for his stance against few locals who tried to grab my mother's land in Makkhi Colony,” claimed his sister-in-law Laila Begum.
Hailing from Patiya upazila, Habib used to live in the port city's Love Lane area under Kotwali Police Station. He went to Oman in 2005 and returned in 2009, said family members. He has two sons and a daughter.
According to police, he was an accused in seven narcotics cases filed with Kotwali Police Station. Apart from that, his wife Morjina Akter is also an accused in two narcotics cases, they added.
Recently, Habib was sent to jail in one of the cases filed against him. He got out on May 14, said family members.
'PICKED UP BY PLAINCLOTHES MEN'
Abdul Ali Rabbi, eldest son of Habib, claimed that his father was picked up by plainclothes men on the day from in front of a local mosque.
“Father and I went to a mosque near our house to offer zuhr prayers on Thursday [May 17],” said the 24-year-old.
“Father was waiting for me outside. Suddenly, three plainclothes men picked him up on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw around 2:00pm,” he said. They said they were from “the administration”, he added.
Rabbi also claimed that the family went to Kotwali Police Station and the office of Department of Narcotic Control (DNC) to ask about his father's whereabouts. But they said they did not know about any such incident, he alleged.
One Abdul Salam Sumon and a few others hatched a conspiracy against his father as they failed to grab his grandmother's land, he alleged.
Rabbi said they came to know about the “gunfight” incident after seeing the news on television late at night. They identified the body at Chittagong Medical College morgue.
“My father was innocent,” said Rabbi. Some plainclothes men there also asked for details about his father, he added.
'MISTAKEN IDENTITY'
At the morgue, Mosharraf's (the other deceased) wife Nazma was also present, said Habib's daughter Iva.
She claimed that Nazma told them that her husband was a Rab informant. “Law enforcers picked up my father based on Mosharraf's information,” she alleged.
“Mosharraf mistakenly identified Habib as someone else,” she alleged. “And to cover it up, they also killed Mosharraf,” claimed Iva.
This correspondent could not get in touch with Nazma as her phone was turned off. Also, while visiting the area Thursday noon, no one there was willing to speak about the issue.
Meanwhile, Habib's sister-in law Laila said she knew Nazma as they used to work together back in 2003. She alleged that she and her sister (Habib's wife) were falsely implicated in a narcotics case in 2014.
Both were sentenced to jail for 40 days for possessing yaba pills.
Laila claimed that after coming out of jail, Abdul Salam Sumon and his men came to their house and harassed them. “We filed seven cases against Sumon and his men,” she added.
When asked about the source of Habib's income, Laila said, “Habib's expatriate sister used to provide him with financial support.”
Habib's wife Morjina was also present when this correspondent was speaking to the family members. She did not want to speak.
Contacted Abdul Salam Sumon, who introduced himself as a Jubo League leader, alleged, “Habib, his wife and sister-in-law are professional yaba traders. In 2014, we handed over the wife and sister-in-law to police as they were caught red-handed with the pills.”
They filed the cases against him to take revenge, he alleged.
About the land allegation, he said, “Why would I want to grab their land? It's not mine. It's not a land issue, they're yaba traders and that's why they're trying to provide false information.”
RAB'S VERSION
Contacted, Rab Deputy Director Lt Commander Ashequr Rahman said they did not know about the land related issues or the case of “mistaken identities”.
“We went to Barisal Colony to conduct an anti-narcotics drive when Habib and his associate fired at us,” he said. “At first, we did not even know who they were.” Later, locals identified them as Habib and Mosharraf, he added.
Afterwards, during investigation, they found out that Habib was a “top drug dealer”, said the deputy director. About Mosharraf, he said Mosharraf used to work as a “drug peddler”.
Comments