Two security guards strangled Chinese national Jianhui Gao to death in his Banani flat and looted Tk 3.49 lakh. To cover up the murder, the two buried the body behind the building, police said at a press conference in the DMP media centre yesterday.

The two -- Abdur Rauf, 22, of Jhenidah and Enamul Haque, 25, of Narail -- were arrested from Banani on Tuesday night.

“They killed the Chinese national…thinking they would get a huge amount of money from the flat,” Abdul Baten, additional commissioner of Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told reporters.

Gao’s wife Leo Hui, his two children, his brother and first secretary of the Chinese Embassy Yang Zhiping were present at the briefing.

A Dhaka court placed the arrestees on a four-day remand each yesterday.

Police also said another security guard was a witness to the crime.

On December 11, police recovered the body of Gao, 47, from the backyard of the building he lived in.

A caretaker of the building called the police in the morning after he noticed some hair and a man’s feet sticking out from the ground there.

Gao used to supply stones and other construction materials to the Padma Bridge and Payra Port projects. He had been living on the sixth floor of thr 11-storey building for a year.

Police said the duo didn’t leave the place after the murder in order to avoid suspicion.

“They divided the looted money -- Tk 1.76 lakh and Tk 1.73 lakh -- and transferred it to their relatives and friends through mobile transactions,” said Moshiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch (North).

Police managed to recover Tk 1.21 lakh. They also found the victim’s phone and a piece of wood which they suspect was used to dig the hole where Gao’s body was dumped.

During primary interrogation, Rauf and Enamul told police that they were frustrated seeing the lifestyle of the rich and were looking for a chance to “change their fates”. 

They observed Gao for some days and plotted to kill and loot him. They targeted him as he used to bring home huge amounts of cash every day.

Police said they tried to kill Gao on December 6 but backed out at the last minute.

Four days later, they went again and pressed the calling bell of Gao’s flat between 5:00pm to 6:00pm. When Gao opened the door, Enamul asked him for some water, police said.

At that moment, Enamul wrapped the towel around Gao’s neck and Rauf grabbed him by the waist. A scuffle broke out and Gao bit Rauf’s finger. Police said Rauf still sported the bite mark.

After the scuffle, they strangled him to death and took away Tk 3.49 lakhs and his mobile phone. 

The two went back to their home on the rooftop and showered.

Around 11:00pm, Rauf dug a pit in the backyard of the building and buried Gao’s body with the help of another guard, police said.

“The other guard would be a witness to the incident,” the police official added.

Police said Rauf joined as a security guard of the building one month ago, while Enamul had joined 15 days ago. Both of them lived together at the rooftop of the building.

Police said they could not recover any CCTV footage as its connection was cut off and nothing had been stored.

Gao’s friend Zhang Shu Hong filed a murder case with Banani Police Station against unnamed accused on December 12.