Asif arrested in murder case while visiting friends to celebrate new job

Former Khulna University student Sheikh Asif Hossain has been arrested over the death of Ayman Md Azmul Hossain, a student of North Western University in Khulna. Investigation-related officials said he became involved in the incident after going to meet friends following his recruitment into a new job.

Asif Hossain, who was arrested on Wednesday night, gave a confessional statement under Section 164 before the Khulna Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at noon on Thursday, September 24. After recording the statement, the court ordered him to be sent to jail. With this, a total of four people, including former and current Khulna University students, have been arrested over Azmul's death.

Harintana Police Station Officer-in-Charge Iqbal Hossain confirmed the matter.

Commander of Special Response Battalion-6, Nistar Ahmed, said Asif was arrested from the Bhatiyapara Golchattar area of Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj around 2:30am last Tuesday. He was later handed over to Harintana Police Station on Wednesday. Asif is a former student of the 18th batch of Khulna University's Computer Science and Engineering Department. His home is in Sanatankati village of Khulna's Paikgachha upazila.

During interrogation, Asif said he had secured a job at a bank and was supposed to join on September 20. Before joining, he went to meet friends at a building adjacent to a Khulna University hall on the night of September 18 to say goodbye. Asif claimed that upon reaching there, he saw Azmul being beaten by several classmates and friends.

According to his account, at one point Azmul was taken to the rooftop of the four-storey building and beaten again. Attempts were made to extract a confession from him that he had stolen and eaten rice, and stolen a mobile phone and money. Several people present at the time recorded videos of his statement. Later, when Azmul was threatened with being handed over to the police, he tried to escape in panic by jumping from the four-storey rooftop to the adjacent three-storey building. But his foot slipped and he fell down, sustaining serious injuries. He later died after being taken to hospital.

Commander of Special Response Battalion-6 Nistar Ahmed said investigators are verifying the authenticity of Asif's information by examining various evidence, including the scene, eyewitness accounts and video footage.

During interrogation, Asif further claimed that mess manager Mehedi and Hasnat Habib Rifat, cash officer of the Krishi Bank's Khulna Town Nawapara branch, were directly involved in the incident and were the main planners. At the same time, he claimed that Tareque Hasan Rubel, owner of the Ma-Babar Doa Tanha Juice Corner in front of Khulna University's Khaja Hall, had beaten Azmul more. These claims are being verified in the investigation.

Earlier, Special Response Battalion arrested Hasnat Habib Rifat and Tareque Hasan Rubel on Tuesday night. Detective Police arrested another person named Pratap Sarkar in the same incident. Later, with Asif's arrest, the number of arrests in the case stood at four.

Police said Pratap Sarkar and Tareque Hasan Rubel have given confessional statements in court over the beating death of Azmul. Khulna Metropolitan Magistrate Ibrahim Khalil recorded their statements at noon on Wednesday. Earlier, Habib Rifat gave a statement in court on Tuesday night.

Harintana Police Station Officer-in-Charge Iqbal Hossain said four people have so far been arrested in the case. Among them, Pratap Sarkar was arrested by the Detective Police, and the other three were arrested by the Special Response Battalion and handed over to police. Among the four arrested, Habib Rifat, Pratap Sarkar, Tareque Hasan Rubel and Sheikh Asif Hossain have given statements in court. He said more important information could be obtained if Mehedi, one of the accused in the case, is arrested.

According to case information, Azmul was first beaten on Friday night over an allegation of stealing and eating rice. Later, allegations of stealing students' clothes, money and other items at various times were also raised against him. At one point during the beating on the rooftop of the four-storey mess building, Azmul fell down and was seriously injured. He was later declared dead by doctors after being taken to hospital.

Azmul's home is in the area of Damurhuda police station in Chuadanga. In this incident, his father, Md Qutub Uddin, filed a case naming four former and current Khulna University students and 20 to 25 unnamed others as accused.