Prime accused in Ctg's Akash Das murder case arrested in Dhaka
RAB says the accused, known as "Rendi", was arrested from Hazaribagh months after the killing of Akash Das, who was allegedly stabbed to death for protesting extortion.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested the prime accused in the widely discussed murder case of Akash Das in Chattogram's Pahartali area.
The accused, Md Raihan Prokash alias Rendi, 19, hailing from Habiganj Sadar upazila, was arrested from Dhaka's Hazaribagh area during a joint raid conducted by RAB-7 Chattogram and RAB-3 Dhaka, according to a press release issued by RAB-7 this morning (20 May).
According to the press release, Akash Das, 26, was stabbed publicly by a group of assailants around 7:40pm on 26 February in the BITAC S-Tech Plastic Factory area under Pahartali Police Station.
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Locals rescued him and took him to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The killing triggered widespread outrage in the area, prompting intensified intelligence surveillance by RAB to identify and arrest those involved.
During the preliminary investigation, RAB learned that Akash Das lived in a rented house in the Dhopapara area of South Kattali and worked as a helper at the plastic factory.
On the day of the incident, several local criminals allegedly attempted to drag away another factory worker named Michael from in front of the factory over a previous dispute.
Akash intervened and brought Michael back inside the factory gate, according to RAB.
The elite force said a group of 12 to 15 individuals, including accused Nazmul Huda and Mohsin, later attacked Akash with sharp weapons in a premeditated assault before fleeing the scene.
Following the incident, the victim's father Babul Das filed a murder case with Pahartali Police Station.
RAB said it later received information that the case's main fugitive accused, Raihan alias Rendi, was hiding in Dhaka's Hazaribagh area.
Acting on the tip-off, a joint team of RAB-7 and RAB-3 conducted a raid around 11:30pm on Monday at the World Trade Packaging and Printing Industry area of Kalunagar under Hazaribagh Police Station and arrested him.
He has been handed over to Hazaribagh Police Station for further legal proceedings, added the press release.
