At least eight people, including the prime suspect, were arrested and seven of them were remanded in police custody in the case of the August 7 killing of journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin in Gazipur city.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police鈥檚 Bason police station officer-in-charge Md Shaheen Khan said that seven suspects were arrested at different places in Dhaka, Gazipur and Mymensingh at the night following Friday, and the other was arrested at a place in Kishoreganj Saturday afternoon.
Shaheen said that they produced the seven arrested at night following Friday before a Gazipur court on Saturday, and the court allowed the police to take them into police custody for two days for interrogation in the case.
He said that all of them were involved in criminal activities, including mugging.
The arrestees are prime suspect Mizanur Rahman alias Ketu Mizan, his wife Parul Akhter Golapi, Shahidul, Swadhin, Al Amin, Faisal Hasan, Shah Jamal, and Sumon.
Of them, Shahidul was arrested at a location in Kishoreganj Saturday afternoon.
GMP commissioner Nazmul Karim Khan, in a press briefing in Gazipur on Saturday, said that Golapi tried to trap Badsha Mia, who withdrew Tk 25,000 from an ATM booth on the day of the crime, in a honey trap scheme.
鈥榃hen Badsha realised this during a conversation, an altercation broke out, and Badsha punched Golapi, as seen on CCTV footage. Immediately, five or six of Golapi鈥檚 associates attacked Badsha with machetes,鈥� he said.
The commissioner said that the whole incident was recorded by the late journalist Tuhin, and the group then attacked him as they noticed him recording, he said, adding that there had been multiple cases against the accused at different police stations.
鈥楾uhin died while trying to expose the crimes of this organised gang. We have CCTV footage, witnesses, and all the evidence. Upon receiving the autopsy report, we will file the charge sheet within 15 days,鈥� Nazmul added.
The Rapid Action Battalion on Saturday, in a text message, informed the media that they arrested another suspect named Shahidul from Kishoreganj on Saturday afternoon.
Tuhin, the Gazipur correspondent of a Bangla daily Dainik Pratidiner Kagoj, was hacked to death while recording another incident of hacking of Badshah Mia near Eidgah Market in the Chandana Chowrasta area under Bason police station on August 7.
A murder case was filed over the killing of Tuhin while another attempted murder case was filed over the attack on Badshah Mia.
Meanwhile, journalists formed human chains and protest rallies at different places across Bangladesh on Saturday, demanding justice for Tuhin.
Journalists in Rangpur in a protest rally on the day stated that the long-standing culture of impunity was one of the key reasons behind the killings, assaults, and persecution of journalists in Bangladesh, 抖阴精品 correspondent in the district reported.
They also blamed the interim government for failing to ensure journalists鈥� safety.
Demonstrations were held in Savar, Munshiganj, Chandpur, Satkhira, and Tangail condemning the murder, reports received from the places said.
