Death of Gulshan girl: Cops to talk to the suspects

Police have said they will talk to the people named in the case filed over the death of a college student at a flat in Dhaka's Gulshan area on 26 April.

In the case, Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir has been accused of abetting the suicide of the girl Mosarrat Jahan Munia.     

Sudip Kumar Chakroborty, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP, Gulshan Division) said, "After examining the evidence, it appears that a bright young girl cannot kill herself without any reason or abetment."

There might have been strong instigation to commit the suicide, the DC told journalists Thursday, adding, police therefore lodged the suicide abatement case over the death.      

He also claimed that police with self-motivation had been investigating the case spontaneously to ensure justice for Mosarrat.

The deputy commissioner said they are trying to collect the factual, circumstantial and digital evidence to prove the accusation. He said police are examining the tension in the relationship between the girl and the accused Bashundhara managing director.

The investigation also focuses on the victim's mental torments which she noted down in her diaries.  

She, however, did not mention anything about committing suicide directly. But in a diary entry on 26 April, she mentioned that she might do something extreme, Sudip Kumar Chakroborty said.

Asked whether police had reached Faria Mahbub Piyasa and Sharun Chowdhury – two other accused in the case – the deputy commissioner said they would talk to everyone whose names would come up in the investigation.

Bashundhara managing director fails to secure bail

In another development Thursday, the High Court did not hear the anticipatory bail plea by Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir in the suicide abatement case.

The bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman said it will not hear the bail petition due to current lockdown and Covid-19 situation.

"In the current lockdown and Covid-19 situation, the court decided not to hear the anticipatory bail petition until further notice," read a notice on the door of the courtroom.

At one point of the court proceedings, the court said, "The issue of anticipatory bail came to the cause-list by mistake. Our instructions were not to entertain such pleas at this moment."

Mansurul Haque Chowdhury, a lawyer of the defence counsel team, said they will take the next step after discussing with the client. 

Accused still in Bangladesh

Deputy Commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakroborty Thursday said the immigration authorities told them that the accused is still in Bangladesh.

"He uses two passports. There is no record of passing the immigration recently using those," he added.

But he did not clearly to a query over Anvir's current location.

"Our immigration system is completely digitized. We want to believe and rely on the updates provided by the immigration authorities," said the DMP official.  

Victim's family, police trade blame

Mosarrat's family complained police do not arrest the accused as he is very influential. But police rejected the allegation.   

Instead, the deputy commissioner of the DMP said the victim's sister was not keen to file the case after the body was recovered from the flat.

"The owner of the house informed the police. Police acted spontaneously after seeing Anvir's picture with the victim hanging on the wall and recovering the diaries."

Meanwhile, two mobile phones, some clothes and DNA samples of the victim were sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police for forensic and DNA tests.

Contacted, Jisanul Haque, senior assistant superintendent of the CID, said, "The CID will analyse and test those evidence to find out if any individual was present at the flat when the student died."