Four murder suspects detained while attempting to flee to India

Police have arrested four suspects in the murder of Shahed Hossain Mona in Chattogram from Habiganj. Law enforcers say they were trying to flee to India.

The arrests were made in the Chathapur area of Nabiganj Upazila on Thursday.

The detainees are prime suspect Jewel, 34, and accomplices Bashir, 26, Sagar, 28, and Jewel aka Chhoto Jewel, 25.

Mostafizur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police South Zone, said at a press conference on Friday: “The killers and Mona used to be on the same side, but disagreements arose between them on various issues and two separate sides were formed. Mona was attacked due to this dispute.

"The attackers fled Chattogram soon after the killing. They tried to escape to India through the border area of Habiganj."

He said the suspects were arrested from Habiganj based on a tip-off on Thursday.

Mona was stabbed to death on the night of Jul 7 at Pakhi Alley in the Kotwali Thana. There are at least eight cases against him, which include robbery and weapons charges.

On Jul 9 last year, Mona was one of those accused in a case over the beating of two employees of a mobile phone dealership and the stealing of Tk 1 million in the Amtal area of the Kotwali area. He was even arrested over the case.

According to the police, Mona was stabbed by his former acquaintances due to a dispute over various issues, including a restaurant business.

Mona's father Shah Alam filed a case with the Kotwali Police Station, naming 12 suspects with Jewel as the prime suspect in the case. The police then arrested two suspects named Sajeeb and Farhad.

The case documents say that Mona used to work as a hawker in the New Market area when he met the accused.

Jewel and Rahim had snatched a mobile phone from a boy known to Mona about 15-20 days ago, the documents say. Later, Mona called Jewel to ask about the robbery. Jewel was adversarial in his response.

“Mona went to Pakhi Alley on Sunday night to buy food for his pet cat. There Jewel and the others beat him. At one point, Jewel, Sagar, Bashir and Shakil stabbed him.”

According to the police, Jewel, Choto Jewel, Bashir and Sagar fled to Dhaka on the night of the murder. There they tried to cross into India illegally with help from a resident of the Fakirapul area. On Jul 8, he stayed at the house in Fakirapool and left for Habiganj the following afternoon.

Four of them were arrested on Thursday and brought back to Chattogram.