9 arrested, prime accused remanded

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has so far arrested eight people in connection with the killing of Special Branch (SB) Sub-Inspector (SI) Altaf Hossain in Savar’s Aminbazar. Police earlier arrested prime accused Zahirul Islam, bringing the total number of arrestees to nine.

RAB said the attack stemmed from a dispute over parking an auto-rickshaw and that Altaf was not the intended target.

Most of the attackers were linked to juvenile gangs and drug-related activities, RAB said, adding that they became more aggressive after Altaf identified himself as a police officer.

RAB-10 Commander Additional DIG Mohammad Asaduzzaman said at a press briefing at the RAB Media Centre in Karwan Bazar on Monday that RAB-10 arrested four people from a launch terminal in Munshiganj and RAB-4 arrested four others from Aminbazar on Sunday night.

Those arrested from Munshiganj are Alauddin, Apon, Jihad and Imran, while those arrested from Aminbazar are Nur Mohammad Rudra, Rakib Mia, Chhabbir Ahmed and Wasim.

Asaduzzaman said preliminary interrogation indicated the involvement of the four suspects arrested by RAB-10. With the four arrested by RAB-4, eight of the 15 accused named in the case have now been detained by RAB.

He said Apon and Jihad were crime-prone and had criminal records. They allegedly led a juvenile gang in the area and were involved in drug-related activities.

According to RAB, Jihad attacked Altaf with a knife, while Apon, described as a key figure in the local gang, struck him on the head with a steel pipe. Imran also took part in the mob assault.

RAB said the incident began on Saturday night when the owner of a garage was assaulted over the parking of an auto-rickshaw. Altaf protested after five people travelling in a private car attacked the garage owner.