Joint operational teams of the Special Reaction Battalion (SRB) and the Detective Branch (DB) of police have arrested three suspects, including two who confessed to their involvement, in connection with the murder of Ayman Md Azmul Hossain, a first-year English department student at North Western University in Khulna.
According to SRB-6 Commander Nintar Ahmed, a joint team of SRB-6 (Khulna) and SRB-8 (Barishal) arrested key accused Hasnat Habib Rifat, 30, at around 2:30am on Tuesday during a drive in the Kuriana Adabari area under Nesarabad Police Station in Pirojpur district.
Rifat, a former student of Khulna University’s 16th batch in the FMRT discipline, is from Gunergati in Sirajganj Sadar and works as a cash officer at Krishi Bank’s Town Nawapara branch in Khulna. During interrogation, Rifat admitted his involvement, confessing that he struck Azmul twice with a stick during the assault.
Following information obtained from Rifat’s confession, SRB officers arrested juice vendor Tarek alias Rubel, 35, on Tuesday afternoon. Tarek hails from Khanjahan Nagar under Harintana Police Station and is the owner of ‘Ma Babar Doa Juice Corner’ in front of Khulna University’s Khaja Hall.
Tarek confessed to kicking and punching Azmul after rushing to the spot upon hearing shouts of “thief, thief” that night. He has been handed over to Harintana Police Station under Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) for further legal proceedings.
In a separate operation at around 4:30pm on Tuesday, Khulna Metropolitan Police DB arrested another suspect, Protap Sarkar, 28, from the Wazirpur Police Station area in Barishal.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DB), Khulna Metropolitan Police, Md Ahaduzzaman Miah confirmed the arrest, saying that Protap of Daligram in Siddhipasha, Jessore, was tracked and identified using CCTV footage and information technology. DB officers are bringing him to Khulna for questioning.
The fatal attack occurred late on Friday night on the rooftop of a four-storey building on Islamnagar Road, adjacent to Khulna University Hall Road. Family members alleged that Azmul was beaten to death over accusations of stealing cooked rice.
On Saturday night, the victim’s father, Kutubuddin, filed a murder case at Harintana Police Station against four named Khulna University students and 20 to 25 unidentified individuals.
The four students named in the First Information Report (FIR) are Robin and Mobin (17th and 19th batches, FMRT discipline), Sagar (19th batch, Mathematics discipline), and Obaidul (26th batch, Agrotechnology discipline) of Khulna University.
The latest arrests outside the FIR bring the total number of Khulna University students implicated in the murder to five.
SRB officials said that elite forces and intelligence agencies launched a shadow investigation, examining surrounding CCTV footage and stepping up intelligence surveillance in the area to apprehend all remaining suspects.
An unnamed source noted that while allegations of torture over rice theft remain unverified, claims regarding the theft of money and a mobile phone against the victim have surfaced.
