Police have detained two people in connection with the murder of Narsingdi Municipality Mayor Lokman Hossain, while a court has cleared BNP Narsingdi district President Khairul Kabir Khokon of the charge of murder.
Police did not disclose the identity of the two detained on Tuesday, seven days after the assassination, “for the sake of ongoing investigation”. However, they did say that it was a major development and that they now know who had been involved in the killing and how it was done.
Even though a Narsingdi court cleared Khokon of the murder allegation, he was unable to get out of jail yesterday as police filed two cases accusing him of involvement in the torching of a train and vandalising the bungalow of the deputy commissioner of Narsingdi on November 2, a day after Lokman was killed. The court reasoned that Khokon had not been mentioned in the case Lokman's family had filed.
A member of the Detective Branch of Police in Narsingdi told The Daily Star yesterday, “The picking up of the two is a major success in the investigation as we will be able to trace those involved in the killing.”
“The duo on a motorbike were assigned to keep a look-out on Sadar Road on which Narsingdi district Awami League office is situated and he [Lokman] was assassinated on November 1 inside the office,” said the official, who is a member of the investigating team.
Wishing not to be named, another DB official refused to elaborate on the capture of the two or disclose their names. He said the police did not want to reveal information owing to the sensitive nature of the case.
However, Subrata Kumar Halder, recently appointed acting superintendent of police of Narsingdi, told The Daily Star yesterday afternoon, “A major development in the case is that we have already identified people involved in the assassination and are aware of how it was done.”
When pressed for more information, Halder said, “Within a day or two we will be before the media with all information we have gathered so far.”
Talking to The Daily Star last evening, an investigation team member said the team had been getting “significant” information about people involved in the assassination.
“At first we tracked a motorbike left at the spot. Following the information gathered, we picked up the duo, one at Tongi and the other in a village in Narsingdi.”
Meanwhile, during yesterday's hearing at court, the chief judicial magistrate of Narsingdi said Khokon's name had not been included in the case filed in connection with the murder.
Around 49 hours after the killing, Kamruzzaman, younger brother of the mayor, filed the case implicating 14 people, including Salauddin Ahmed, younger brother of the posts and telecommunications minister, as the prime accused.
Hours after Lokman's murder, Narsingdi police with the help of members of the Detective Branch in Dhaka arrested Khokon at his Rampura home in the capital.
He was shown arrested under Section 54, with police later submitting a report to the court mentioning their suspicion of his involvement in the Lokman killing.
On November 3, the court rejected Khokon's bail petition and set yesterday for the hearing of the police remand prayer against him.
Home Minister Shahara Khatun yesterday at her office at the Secretariat told reporters that the government did not influence the law enforcers to arrest Khokon.
However, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday announced a two-day protest programme to press home the party's demand for Khokon's release.
Fakhrul announced the programme for Friday and Saturday at the BNP head office in Naya Paltan in the capital yesterday afternoon, reports UNB.
Meanwhile, family members of the slain mayor and his close aides are in panic after “unidentified criminals” on November 6 attempted to “kill” SM Kaioum, a close aide of Lokman, and two others in front of the mayor's home. However, the unidentified criminals later turned out to be Rab personnel.
SM Kaioum, a close aide to Lokman, yesterday claimed that a group of four to five criminals attempted to kill him on the night of November 6.
“At first they tried to catch me while I was going home from Lokman bhai's home at Basail. One tried to fire a pistol when I caught one of them by the shoulder,” Kaioum said.
He went on to say, “When I shouted for help, Sihab, Sohel and a security guard came forward from Lokman bhai's home. At one point of our united resistance, they managed to flee the scene.”
Kaioum, former vice-president of Bangladesh Chhatra League, filed a case with Narsingdi Model Police Station on November 7 in this connection.
Later, Officer-in-Charge of Narsingdi Police Station Anwar Hossain informed Kaioum that the people in question had been from the Rapid Action Battalion and had gone there for answers to a few questions about the murder.
Kaioum said, “What kind of approach to questioning is this? The family members of Lokman say they are still in a state of fear.”