RAB arrests 5 over killing of auto-rickshaw driver in Mirpur

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members have arrested a gang leader and four others over the killing of an auto-rickshaw driver and the snatching of his vehicle in Rupnagar area of Mirpur.

The victim, Jan-e Alam, 40, an auto-rickshaw driver, was killed in the incident and his vehicle was stolen.

The arrested are Md Rana, Md Abu Hanif, Md Minhaz, Md Kurban Ali and Md Siam, said RAB-4 media officer K N Rai Niyoti today (20 May).

Rai Niyoti said that on 16 May, a sack-bound semi-decomposed unidentified body was found near the Pepsi intersection area under Rupnagar Police Station. Later, the CID identified the body through fingerprints as Jan-e Alam. After this, the victim's sister filed a murder case at Rupnagar Police Station.

After investigating the case, RAB conducted operations in different areas of Dhaka and Tongi on 19 May and arrested five people involved in the killing. The stolen auto-rickshaw was also recovered.

According to RAB, around five to six people were involved in the incident. The plan was made in Tongi and the group members were friends who were earlier involved in petty theft and snatching cases.

On the night of 13 May, Rana, Minhaz, Kurban, Abu Hanif and others gathered in Diabari and waited until midnight to find a target. Around 1am, Rana hired an auto-rickshaw from Diabari and told the driver to go towards the Beribadh area.

In a quiet place, the group strangled the driver with a towel and made sure he was dead. They later wrapped the body in a blanket, put it inside a sack and tried to dump it in different places but failed. Finally, they left it near Pepesi Mor.

They then took the auto-rickshaw and the victim's mobile phone and went to Tongi, where they sold the vehicle to a stolen goods network for Tk40,000.

Officials said the arrested people have multiple cases against them in different police stations in Dhaka and Gazipur, including robbery, snatching, theft and kidnapping