Pintu

Police and Rapid Action Battalion came up with contradictory versions of the motive behind the murder of Rajshahi University Prof AKM Shafiul Islam following arrest of nine people from different parts of the country yesterday.

Rajshahi police, after arresting three people from Bogra, said two of the detainees claimed responsibilities for the murder on social media.

“They claimed their responsibility for Shafiul's murder on a Facebook page of militant outfit Ansar Al Islam Bangladesh-2,” said M Shamsuddin, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police.

The RMP commissioner, however, did not say anything about how they ascertained the arrestees' link to the militant outfit.

On the contrary, Rab arrested six people from Rajshahi and Gazipur and claimed that a former RU Chhatra Dal leader masterminded the killing following a row centring his wife who is an employee at the university.

“We did not find any militant connection with the killing,” Rab Media Wing Director Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan told reporters yesterday at a press briefing at Rab headquarters.

Mufti said at least 11 people were directly involved in the killing mission. Three of them had been arrested by police earlier while two others including the convener of Rajshahi district unit Jubo Dal were on the run.

The six Rab arrestees are Abdus Samad alias Pintu, 34, the alleged mastermind; Ariful Islam alias Manik, 33; Sabuj Sheikh, 18; Sirajul Islam alias Kalu, 22; Al Mamun, 31; and Ibrahim Khalil alias “Tokai” Babu, 21.

Of them, Pintu is a former vice president of RU unit of Chhatra Dal while Manik is a former organising secretary of Katakhali municipality unit of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal.

Acting on a tip-off, a Rab-5 team arrested Pintu from his house at Binodpur in Motihar upazila of Rajshahi and Manik, Sabuj and Kalu from Kapashia under the same upazila in the early hours of yesterday.

Another Rab team in Dhaka arrested Mamun and “Tokai” Babu around 6:30am yesterday from Tongi of Gazipur district.

“We have learned from the arrestees that Arif, Jinnat and Sagar were also involved in the killing mission. They've already been arrested by police following the killing,” said Mufti.

Rab also recovered two machetes, two knives, an axe and ten cell phones from the arrestees.

Prof Shafiul, 48, known as a progressive-minded teacher at RU, was hacked to death by assailants near his house in Rajshahi's Choddopai area on November 15. Two hours after the murder, a so-called militant outfit Ansar Al Islam Bangladesh-2 reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder on its Facebook page.

The plan

Quoting arrestees, Mufti Mahmud Khan, Rab media wing director, said a few weeks earlier Shafiul had "harassed" the wife of Pintu who now works as a contractor.

When Pintu met Shafiul to protest the incident, he was rebuked. Later, Pintu sought help from district Jubo Dal leader Anwar Hossain Uzzal to look into the matter. Uzzal met Shafiul but the teacher rebuked him as well.

Angered by such behaviour, Pintu, Uzzal and Manik hatched a plan to teach him a “good lesson”.  Manik was assigned to arrange more men for carrying out the mission.  

The killing

As part of the plan, 10 persons took position at seven different places in Choddopai area, said Manik, one of the arrestees, who was placed before the media at the press briefing.

“Mamun and I stood on the road leading to Shafiul's home while Pintu followed him on a motorbike from the RU campus. As 'sir' [Prof Shafiul] neared his home, Pintu confirmed us about his identity,” said Manik, adding that they did not intend to kill him, they just wanted to give him a good lesson.

“But Sabuj all of a sudden hacked on his head with a machete and he fell down. Later, some of us also hacked him indiscriminately. We left the scene separately in groups,” said Manik, a brother of M Abbas Ali, vice president of Rajshahi city unit Jubo League.

Contacted, Abbas said he was not in contact with his brother after he had come to know that he was a drug addict.

Police claim

The three police arrestees are Raihanul Islam, Shariful Islam and Shadhon Karmaker. They were arrested from Bogra in the early hours of yesterday, reports our Rajshahi correspondent.

The RMP boss said Raihanul and Shariful were activists of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Police detained Shadhon, a blacksmith, after they found his name on a machete seized from the crime scene, added the RMP boss.

Police so far nabbed 37 people in connection with the killing. Eleven of them were placed on a two-day remand.

Son's response

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday at the Rab headquarters, Prof Shafiul's son Soumin Shahrid Javin said his father was a good man who was popular among the RU teachers and students.

"It is hard to imagine that he's been killed over a row centring a woman. Whoever the killers are, I want justice," he said.