A businessman was hacked to death at a house in Dhaka’s Sabujbagh area on Sunday afternoon, while two others were injured in the incident.
The deceased was identified as Sifatullah, 30, son of Zainal Abedin of Dholairpar in Jatrabari.
He had recently returned to the country from Qatar.
The incident occurred around 3pm at a house in a lane near Baraitala Bridge in Adarshpara, Sabujbagh.
Sifatullah was taken to Mugda Medical College Hospital in critical condition and later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment around 7pm.
Nazifa Sheikh Neha, a student of Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College and a friend of Sifatullah, said the two had planned to marry.
According to Neha, Sifatullah went to her sublet room on the fifth floor of the building on Sunday. A local youth named Joy, whom she described as someone she called her elder brother, later went to the house.
An argument broke out between Joy and Sifatullah, she said. At one point, Sifatullah was taken downstairs.
“Joy and five or six others then hacked him indiscriminately and left,” Neha said.
She said she rescued Sifatullah and first took him to Mugda Hospital before taking him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
However, Rabby, an associate of Joy who was also injured, gave a different account of the incident.
He claimed that they went to the house after hearing allegations of “immoral activities”. Sifatullah allegedly attacked them first and stabbed them, after which a scuffle broke out, Rabby said.
Tenant gives account of Neha’s stay
Hasna, a tenant of the building, said she lived alone in one room and had sublet the adjacent room to Neha.
She said Neha rented the room on 1 July, introducing a man named Sajid as her husband. She later learned that they were not married but had been in a relationship and subsequently separated.
Sifatullah had been visiting Neha’s room regularly since then, Hasna said, adding that she did not know the nature of their relationship.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost in-charge Inspector Md Habibur Rahman said Sifatullah’s body had been kept at the hospital morgue for an autopsy, and Sabujbagh Police Station had been informed about the incident.
