Rab, DB present differing motives behind killing

Law-enforcement agencies on Saturday presented differing narratives over the gruesome killing of Rangpur-based trader Ashraful Haque, whose dismembered body was discovered in two plastic drums near the High Court in Dhaka on Thursday last.
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) each detained separate suspects and held separate press briefings, offering sharply different accounts of the motive behind the murder.
While Rab described the killing as part of an extortion scheme orchestrated through a staged romantic affair, the DB insisted the crime stemmed from a tangled love triangle that escalated fatally.
Rab arrested Shamima Akhter Kohinur from Cumilla on Friday, while the Detective Branch (DB) detained Jarezul Islam from Daudkandi.
Based on their interrogations, the two agencies organised separate press conferences on Saturday to outline the details of the case.
At a briefing at the Karwan Bazar Media Centre, Lt Col Fayezul Arefin, Commanding Officer of Rab-3, said Ashraful was killed as part of a plan to blackmail and extort Tk 1.0 million.
He said Shamima had been in a relationship with Jarezul for more than a year, and that Jarezul orchestrated a scheme to lure one of his friends into a romantic trap, record compromising footage, and use it to demand money.
As part of this plan, Shamima developed a relationship with Ashraful, according to the Rab official. On November 11, Jarezul and Ashraful travelled from Rangpur to Dhaka and met Shamima, before the three rented a flat in Shonir Akhra.
Ashraful was allegedly given sleeping pills mixed into mandarin juice to render him semi-conscious, after which Jarezul reportedly recorded intimate moments between the pair.
Investigators later recovered the video from Shamima's mobile phone.
Lt Col Arefin said that on November 12, after Ashraful became fully unconscious, Jarezul tied him with rope, sealed his mouth with tape, and repeatedly struck him with a hammer after consuming yaba, killing him.
The following morning, the suspects bought two plastic drums, dismembered the body, and dumped the remains near the High Court.
However, at a separate media briefing, DB chief Mohammad Shafiqul Islam offered a different account, saying the murder arose from a love triangle rather than extortion.
He said Malaysia-based expatriate Jarezul had met Shamima more than three years earlier through a mobile app, leading to a romantic relationship.
When Jarezul's wife learned of the affair, she sought help from Ashraful, who later became romantically involved with Shamima himself.
According to the DB, Ashraful and Shamima had agreed to pay Tk 700,000 each to send Jarezul to Japan. Following this arrangement, Shamima called both men from Rangpur to Dhaka to begin the payment and visa process.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com