Bus driver confesses to expressway murder
A bus driver accused in the murder of a man whose body was recovered from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway has confessed to his involvement in the killing, police said.
Sohel Rana, who was arrested on 5 September in connection with the murder, gave a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a Dhaka court on Thursday, according to prosecution Sub-Inspector Moktar Hossain.
Sohel was produced before the court after the end of his remand. As he voluntarily agreed to make a confessional statement, Banani Police Station Sub-Inspector Nazrul Islam Talukder, also the investigating officer in the case, sought the court’s permission to record it.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin subsequently recorded Sohel’s statement and ordered that he be sent to jail.
The details of his confession were not immediately available.
How the murder came to light
According to the case statement, Ismail Hossain left his village home in Jamalpur for Gazipur at around 4:30am on 4 September. He was carrying Tk5 lakh in cash from the sale of land, along with various food items.
His son, Md Hasan, was waiting for him at Jirani bus stand in Gazipur. However, Hasan could not contact his father as Ismail’s mobile phone had been switched off.
Later, Hasan learned that the body of an unidentified man had been recovered from the road between pillars 179 and 180 on the Kakoli-Kuril section of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway under Banani Police Station.
The cash and other belongings Ismail had taken from his village were missing from the body.
His relatives later identified the deceased as Ismail Hossain.
Hasan filed a murder case with Banani Police Station on 4 September. Police arrested Sohel, Saju Loskar and Mahbub Alam Moni in the capital the following day.
Saju, the supervisor of the Raj Classic bus, and Moni, its helper, later gave confessional statements under Section 164 on 6 September. Following their statements, the court granted Sohel four days’ remand for questioning in connection with the case.
