Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has detained eight people in connection with the murder of a man in the city’s Chandgaon area after he protested a mugging and helped recover a stolen mobile phone.
The victim, Mohammad Sakib, 23, was allegedly attacked with sharp weapons on 20 August after being forced off an auto-rickshaw while returning home with a neighbour.
Md Towhidul Islam, CPC-3 Company Commander of RAB-7, disclosed the information at a press briefing at the RAB-7 office on Sunday afternoon.
He said the suspects were arrested in separate raids in Chattogram city, different parts of the district and Cox’s Bazar within 48 hours of the murder.
According to RAB, Emon, one of the arrested suspects, had allegedly snatched a mobile phone from a man eight to 10 days before the murder.
Sakib protested the incident and later helped recover the phone with assistance from local residents before returning it to the owner.
RAB said Emon and his associates became angry with Sakib over the incident and allegedly planned to kill him.
On 20 August, around 6:30pm, Emon and his associates allegedly stopped the auto-rickshaw and forced Sakib to get off.
They then attacked him repeatedly with sharp weapons.
Locals took Sakib to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The eight arrested suspects are Mohammad Emon, 22, Mohammad Raihan, 25, Mohammad Shahed Salman, 22, Mohammad Hossain, 22, Hasan Mohammad Rabiul, 21, Mohammad Sakib Hossain, 18, Md Achman, 23, and Faisal, 23.
The suspects were arrested in separate raids in Chattogram city, different parts of the district and Cox’s Bazar.
A locally made Chinese axe and a knife allegedly used in the killing were also recovered, RAB said.
Sakib’s father filed a murder case with Chandgaon Police Station, naming three people and accusing six to seven unidentified others.
The arrested suspects were handed over to Chandgaon Police Station for further legal action, according to RAB.
