Police have arrested a man known as Samrat in connection with six murders committed in Savar over the past seven months, but questions have arisen about his real name and identity. The explanations for the killings are also inconsistent.
Frequently seen roaming near Savar Model Police Station, the suspect introduced himself to police as “King Samrat” and “Moshiur Rahman Khan Samrat.” Police say his name came up in the latest double murder last Sunday.
According to Savar police, the drifter Samrat had spent the last several years wandering and sleeping around Savar Model Police Station, Savar Upazila Health Complex, the Sub‑Registrar’s Office, the abandoned municipal community centre, and Pakija intersection.
Police arrested Samrat after two charred bodies were found at the abandoned municipal community centre on Sunday. However, they could not verify the identity he provided. Moshiur Rahman Khan Samrat is the name of the local Ward‑5 councillor, and the suspect has been claiming that same full name. Police also doubt the reasons he has given for the six murders.
Samrat’s Real Identity Revealed
Sources have confirmed that the man calling himself Samrat is actually Sabuj Sheikh, son of Panna Sheikh. He has three brothers and four sisters. His eldest sister is Sharmin, followed by Sabuj, then another sister and brother, and finally two more sisters. Their maternal home is in Barishal.
Sabuj was born in Mosamanda village of Holudia Union under Louhajang Police Station in Munshiganj. Their relative Khalek Sheikh is locally influential, and villagers know the family as infamous.
Several officers of Savar Model Police Station confirmed this information to Times of Bangladesh on Tuesday morning. Dhaka’s Savar Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Md Asaduzzaman said on Monday that after primary interrogation, Samrat confessed to six murders, including five unidentified victims. He was sent to court to give a statement under Section 164, the police official added.
He also said: “Samrat has given different reasons each time. Once he claimed he killed them because they were engaged in immoral acts. Another time he said he lured homeless women for sexual relations. If those women engaged in immoral acts with others, he killed them.”
Regarding the latest case, Asaduzzaman said, “Three to four days before the incident, he brought a homeless young woman named Tania alias Sonia to the community centre. When another homeless man had an illicit relationship with her, Samrat first killed the man, then killed the woman, and later burned their bodies.”
Police are still verifying how much of his statement is true.
Saidul Islam, inspector of Dhaka DB (North), said Samrat gave a false address in Ward‑5 Bank Colony and claimed his parents were Salam and Rejeya. Without verifying these details, he was sent to court.
Savar Model Police Station’s officer‑in‑charge Arman Ali described Samrat as a psychopath.
Local residents and shopkeepers said Samrat had been wandering the area for years, begging for money, eating at roadside hotels, and sometimes wearing old police uniforms. Some people even bought him tea and cigarettes.
He was often seen with a button phone, sometimes a smartphone, and was known for foul language and erratic behaviour. Several residents confirmed he is not from Bank Colony and that his claimed identity is false. Former inmates also recalled him being reckless and troublesome during a stint in Kashimpur‑2 prison.
Six Murders in Seven Months
4 July 2025: 75‑year‑old Asma Begum’s body was found behind a tea stall near Savar Model Mosque. An autopsy revealed she was strangled.
29 August: The body of an unidentified man, about 30 years old, was found in an abandoned community centre. His hands were tied, and a scarf was wrapped around his neck.
11 October: The body of an unidentified woman, about 30, was found in the same building’s bathroom, with stab wounds to the head and neck.
19 December: The charred remains of a man, about 35, were found in the same bathroom. His body was partially dismembered.
18 January: Two more charred bodies—a man aged about 25 and a girl aged about 13—were discovered in the same bathroom. CCTV footage showed Samrat moving one of the bodies, leading to his arrest.
Police say all six murders were committed by Samrat in the same area, using similar methods. He confessed to them during interrogation.
On Monday, police sought a 10‑day remand, and later he gave a confessional statement under Section 164 before Dhaka’s Chief Judicial Magistrate Tajul Islam. He was then sent to jail, said Court Police Inspector Kamal Hossain.
Police claim this marks a major breakthrough in solving the string of murders.
