One more arrested in Habiganj

Police arrested another person for his suspected link in the killing of four kids at Sundrateki village in Bahubal upazila of Habiganj from the same village yesterday.

The arrestee is Saleh Uddin, 27, brother of Bashir Ahmed, who was earlier arrested in the killing case.

With the arrestee, police have so far arrested six people in the gruesome murder case, said Mosharraf Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bahubal Police Station.

On February 12, the four kids went out to a nearby playground, telling their parents they would return before sunset.

As the four did not come back home, families mounted a search that night at Sundrateki village. But they found no trace of the children.

Worried sick, the parents went everywhere -- neighbours' homes, police station, playgrounds and bushes -- and looked frantically for the apple of their eyes over the next four days.

On February 17, the kids finally returned home but dead. Their bodies were found buried under sand at a place around a kilometre off their village.

The ill-fated children are Monir Miah, 7, son of Afjal Miah; Zakaria Shuvo, 8, son of Abdul Wahid Miah; Mohammad Tajel Mia, 10, son of Abdul Aziz; and Ismail Miah, 10, son of Abdul Kader.

Monir, Shuvo and Tajel were cousins and students of class I, II and IV at Sundrateki Government Primary School. Ismail was studying at a local madrasa, said the OC.

Police and victims' relatives suspect that the murders could be a result of rivalry between two groups of local panchayat (village arbitration).