Prime accused among five held over Narsingdi JCD leader Masum’s murder

Police have arrested five people, including the prime accused, in the murder case of Jatiotabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) leader Ibrahim Al Masum in Narsingdi’s Palash, where a long-running dispute over local dominance is believed to have triggered the attack.

The suspects were arrested early Friday from Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar following a joint operation by Palash police and Rab-11, police said in a statement issued Friday night.

The arrestees include case prime accused Safadi Mirza Bijoy, along with Shah Alam Fakir, Rifat alias Babu Fakir, Tushar and Mehedi.

According to police, the arrests followed a campaign based on intelligence information under the direct supervision of the Narsingdi police superintendent. A team raided a residential hotel in the Thakurpara area of Maheshkhali and detained the five suspects with assistance from Rab-11 and local police.

Police said the suspects admitted their involvement in the incident during preliminary questioning. Their statements, however, will be subject to further investigation and judicial proceedings.

According to the case documents and police, rival factions of the BNP had been locked in a dispute over control in Danga Union for some time. On August 2, at around 2am, a group armed with firearms and locally made weapons allegedly attacked Masum and his associates in the Hasan Hata Fakirbari area.

Masum sustained serious gunshot injuries in the attack, while several others accompanying him were also wounded. He was initially treated locally before being transferred to Popular Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, where he died at around 10:30am on August 10 while undergoing treatment.

Masum was a former joint secretary of the Danga Union unit of the JCD.

His brother-in-law, Hasan Md Mohsin, filed a murder case with Palash Police Station on Aug. 4, naming 37 people and another 10 to 15 unidentified suspects.

Police said efforts are underway to arrest the remaining accused in the case.