The police are yet to arrest 12 accused out of 19 named in the case filed over the July 9 killing of scrap metal trader Lal Chand, better known as Md Sohagh, near Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital in Old Dhaka in four days.
Detectives on Sunday arrested two accused in the case and a metropolitan magistrate court in Dhaka allowed the police to take two other accused in police custody for four days for interrogation in the case.
The Sunday鈥檚 arrestees are Sajib Bepary and Rajib, both named in the case, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 deputy commissioner for Lalbagh division Mohammad Jasim Uddin.
DC Jasim said that a team of detectives arrested Sajib and Rajib at a location in Netrokona on Sunday.
鈥業nvestigation is going on and operations are on to arrest the other accused,鈥� he said.
With the latest arrests, a total of seven people, all named accused in the case, have been taken into police custody so far in connection with the murder.
Asked about the low progress in arresting named accused, Kotowali police station officer-in-charge Md Moniruzzaman said that they were working round the clock and successfully arrested seven of the accused named in the case.
鈥楾he other named accused would be arrested soon,鈥� he said.
In the wake of the killing, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party expelled five members of its affiliated organisations Juba Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal and Chhatra Dal for their alleged involvement in the incident.
All five are named in the case, while one of them, Mahmudul Hasan Mohin, was remanded in police custody for questioning.
According to the police, traders and the victim鈥檚 family members, Lal Chand used to maintain a syndicate of scrap business in the Mitford area.
They said that the victim started taking shelter with Juba Dal leaders after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5, 2024.
Officials involved in the investigation said that the conflict began with the takeover of the control of the scrap metal business syndicate and the murder was a result of it.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court granted a four-day remand to Alamgir and Monir, who were earlier arrested in the case.
Metropolitan magistrate Md Sefatullah granted the remand after the investigating officer of the case, Inspector (Investigation) of Kotwali police station Nasir Uddin, produced them before the court with a seven-day remand plea.
Lal Chand, also an activist of the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, was hit and hacked to death with concrete boulders near Gate 3 of Mitford Hospital.
According to the case statements, the incident took place between 5:40pm and 6:20pm on July 9 and the case was recorded at about 8:10am on July 10.
A video of the killing went viral on social media and sparked nationwide outrage.
Sohag鈥檚 elder sister filed a murder case with the Kotwali police accusing 19 known people and 15 to 20 unknown others and the police filed a separate case under the Arms Act.
On Sunday, a writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking its directive for the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the killing of Lal Chand.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Eunus Ali Akond filed the petition as a public interest litigation.
In Cumilla鈥檚 Muradnagar, a Hindu woman was raped and tortured on the night of June 26 and a case was filed on June 27.
Meanwhile in another incident at Muradnagar, a mother, her son and daughter were beaten to death early morning of July 3 and a case was filed after about 40 hours on the night of July 4.
