4 nabbed over elderly man murder

Four people have been arrested in connection with the death of a 74-year-old man following a dispute over a snake charmer’s chanting during a snake show in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested the four from Munshiganj late Wednesday night, said RAB-13 Senior Assistant Director Biplab Kumar Goswami on Thursday.

The arrestees are Ashraful Islam, 45, Mabu Mia, 30, Lebu Mia, 30, and Ershad Ali, 40. All of them are sons of Nur Hossain of Joyram Ojha village under Laxmiter Union in Gangachara.

According to RAB, a snake charmer was staging a snake show at a field beside a community clinic near Kashiyabari Hat on the night of August 25. At one point, a dispute broke out over the snake charmer’s chanting.

The accused, along with 9-10 unidentified people, allegedly assaulted the snake charmer. Abdul Malek, the elder son of the victim, Endaz Mia, rescued the snake charmer and took him away from the spot.

The accused allegedly then abused and assaulted Malek. Hearing his son’s cries, Endaz Mia came forward and was also beaten. He died at the spot.

Malek filed a murder case with Gangachara Police Station on August 26. The accused subsequently went into hiding to evade arrest.

A joint team of RAB-13, Rangpur, and RAB-11, CPC-1, Narayanganj, conducted a raid at Baligaon Bazar in Tongibari upazila of Munshiganj on Wednesday night and arrested Ashraful Islam and Mabu Mia.

Later, the team arrested Lebu Mia and Ershad Ali from Islamapur Bazar in the same upazila.
The arrestees were handed over to the concerned police station for further legal action.