BUET student Fardin's movement before murder puzzles police

Slain BUET student Fardin Noor Parash visited several places for hours late in the night he was murdered, police have said, citing mobile phone location data and CCTV camera footage, reports Bdnews24.com

After accompanying his female friend Amatullah Bushra to Rampura in a rickshaw, Fardin left the place around 9:45pm on Nov 4. Around 11pm, his mobile phone's location was Zinzira in Keraniganj, the other side of the Buriganga river.

From there, he travelled to Johnson Road in Old Dhaka around 11:15pm. At 1:00am on Nov 5, his location was Gulistan. He was seen in Jatrabari at 2:15am.

Speaking to bdnews24.com on Thursday, Harunor Rashid, chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch, said CCTV footage showed Fardin walking in Jatrabari for some time.

A man in a white T-shirt escorted him afterwards to a small, white passenger carrier locally called Leguna, in which three to four people were already there. Harun said it did not appear Fardin was forced to get into the vehicle.

The vehicle moved towards Tarabo in Narayanganj's Rupganj via Biswa Road after picking up Fardin. "We've kept the Leguna driver and his assistant under our watch. We'll talk to them," the police officer said.

BUET student Fardin's movement before murder puzzles police

Citing another police unit, the Rapid Action Battalion, which is conducting a shadow investigation into the murder of Fardin, several media outlets reported his location was Chanpara, a hotspot for drug peddling surrounded by rivers in Rupganj, at 2:35am.

Some suggested he was beaten to death by the drug peddlers as his body was found in the Shitalakkhya river in Narayanganj on Nov 7.

His family and friends said Fardin was not a smoker, let alone a drug abuser.

The investigators are also puzzled why the BUET student travelled to Chanpara when he was supposed to be busy with his friends preparing for their exam the next day.

BUET student Fardin's movement before murder puzzles police

The 24-year-old was also scheduled to fly to Spain in December to take part in an international debate competition.

"Why did he visit the places? Did he have something bad in his mind? Was he under pressure to collect money for his planned foreign trip? We're investigating everything. A DB team is working day and night," said Harun.

Fardin's friend Bushra, who was arrested in a murder case filed by his father, maintained during police interrogation that Fardin acted normally until he left her in Rampura, the police officer said.