N'ganj 7 murder case: HC rejects govt plea to withdraw CID from probe

UNB, Dhaka :
The High Court on Thursday summarily rejected the petition seeking to withdraw the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from the ongoing investigation into the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case.
An HC division bench comprising Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the order after a brief hearing on the petition.
The chief government law officer, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on Wednesday submitted the petition on the advice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court referring to legal restrictions on inquiries into a case by two agencies concurrently.
The HC also stated that the CID would continue its inquiry into the seven-murder case and submit before the bench the evidence gathered from such investigation.
The bench further said that then it will hand over the evidence to the designated investigation officer (IO) of the case for regular investigation if the court thinks it necessary.
The CID had been investigating the case as per the High Court order while the DB had been officially assigned to investigate the seven-murder after abduction on April 27.
The government-formed probe committee and the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have also been engaged in investigating the case and submit progress reports to the HC regularly following its order.
On April 27, Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam, his three associates and driver, were abducted from Fatullah area. Hours after their abduction, senior lawyer at the District Judge’s Court Chandan Kumar Sarker and his driver were also abducted on their way to capital Dhaka.
Three days into their abduction, the bodies of six people, including that of Nazrul and Chandan Kumar, were recovered from the Shitalakhya River on April 30. Besides, the following day, the body of Jahangir, car driver of Nazrul Islam, was recovered from the river.
Later, Shahidul Islam, Nazrul’s father-in-law claimed that Rab officials killed Nazrul and others in exchange of Tk 6 crore from city councilor Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the murder case, and other accomplices.
The three former officials of Rab-11 in Narayanganj – Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Major Arif Hossain and Navy’s Lt Commander MM Rana – now in jail were pensioned off for their alleged involvement in the gruesome incident.
On June 14, Paschimbanga police arrested Nur Hossain from an apartment in Kolkata as Narayanganj police earlier sought Interpol’s help to arrest Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the sensational killing.