6 more held over killing of BNP leader in Adabar; weapon recovered

The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has detained four more people in connection with the fatal stabbing of BNP leader Md Abul Bashar Badsha in the capital's Adabar area.

Separately, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested the prime accused, Md Sumon, 25, from Jamalpur, and the alleged mastermind, Md Shahid, 59, from Mymensingh district, RAB said in a statement today (3 July).

So far, nine people have been held over the incident.

The four newly detained by DB are Ripon, 27, Nirab, 25, Majnu Mia, 60, and Md Mizanur Rahman, 40.

Speaking at a briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Minto Road today, DB chief Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam said a team from the DB's Tejgaon Division detained the four suspects during a raid in Sahebnagar area under Ishwarganj upazila of Mymensingh around 9:15pm last night (2 July).

Based on information obtained during interrogation, detectives later recovered the switchgear knife allegedly used in the killing from Adabar.

Shafiqul said the attack took place at around 8:30pm on Wednesday (1 July) at an intersection in the Nabodoy Housing area under Adabar Police Station, where a clash broke out between two groups over a prior dispute.

During the incident, Nabodoy Housing unit BNP General Secretary Md Abul Bashar Badsha, 45, and unit President Md Saddam Hossain, 35, were critically injured in an attack with sharp weapons. They were first taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital before being shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Badsha died around 11:30pm while undergoing treatment. Saddam remains hospitalised.

The DB chief said preliminary interrogation revealed that the dispute stemmed from an altercation on Monday (29 June) over watching the Brazil-Japan World Cup match and blowing whistles during the game. The conflict escalated during a local arbitration meeting held on Wednesday night on Road No 1 of D-Block near Nabodoy Kitchen Market, where the attack occurred.

Responding to a question, Shafiqul said Ripon had directly stabbed Badsha. He added that investigators had not found any political affiliation of the suspects, who fled to their village homes in Mymensingh after the incident.

He also said no case had yet been filed over the killing.

Earlier, police detained three suspects – Shoaib, Arman and Nayan – from the Nabodoy Housing area last afternoon.