JnU student murder: Mother hands over suspect son; police deny taking him in custody
No case has been recorded in the incident as of yet.
The mother of one of the suspects in the murder of Jagannath University (JnU) Chhatra Dal leader Md Jobayed Hossain reportedly handed her son over to police early this morning (20 October), but law enforcers deny taking him into custody.
No case has been recorded in the incident as of yet.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Suspect Md Mahir Rahman's uncle, Imran Sheikh, told The Business Standard over the phone that Mahir's mother herself took her son to Bangshal Police Station between 6:30am and 8:00am today.
"My sister-in-law Rekha [Mahir's mother] went to Bangshal Police Station with Mahir in the morning and later handed him over to the police," he said.
Police denied taking Mahir in their custody. "There was no such incident," Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Lalbagh division) Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami told TBS.
In response to another query, DC Mallik said the body of Jobayed had been handed over to his family, who have now gone to their hometown to complete the funeral rituals.
"A case will be filed after they return," he added.
Jobayed, a student of the Statistics Department (session 2019-20) and a member of the JnU Chhatra Dal convening committee, was found fatally stabbed on the staircase of a house in Armanitola last evening, where he went to tutor a student.
"We wanted to file the case naming five people: the student Barsha, her parents, her boyfriend Md Mahir Rahman, and the boyfriend's friend Md Nafis. The OC of Bangshal Police Station refused to take it," said Jobayed's elder brother Enayet Hossain Soikat.
He further alleged, "The OC advised us not to name so many people in the case. He [the OC] told us that if we name the girl's parents, the case would become 'lightweight.' But we insist on naming them. We demand justice for my brother's murder."
The delay in filing the case was initially attributed to the OC's absence between 1am and 3am, but upon his arrival, the request to reduce the number of accused caused further delay.
When questioned, Bangshal Police Station OC Rafiqul Islam stated, "We will accept the case with the names of whoever they want to include, but we advised them to discuss the matter with university teachers before making a final decision."
Earlier, police recovered Jobayed's blood-stained body from the staircase of a house on Panir Pump Goli. They suspect the student and her boyfriend may be involved. CCTV footage reportedly shows two young men fleeing the scene around the time of the 4:45pm murder, though their faces are unclear.
For the past year, Jobayed Hossain had been teaching physics, chemistry, and biology to Barsha at a house called Roushan Villa at 15, Nurbox Lane, Armanitola, Old Dhaka.
Police earlier took the student, Barsha, into custody for questioning. She was escorted from her residence around 11pm last night following extensive interrogation.
A police official, on condition of anonymity, told TBS that three people, including Mahir, were at the scene when Jobayed was stabbed. Efforts are underway to arrest the rest.
Following the murder, protesting JnU students demanded the swift arrest of the perpetrators. They staged a sit-in in front of Bangshal Police Station and blocked the Tatibazar intersection, briefly setting fires in protest.
JnU announced a two-day mourning programme today in condolence of the brutal murder and has also postponed all events marking 'University Day', which was scheduled for 22 October.
