RAB arrests 4 accused over killing guard of Ctg salt field
The four were allegedly among a group that went to take control of a salt field and fish enclosure, where a guard was shot when he tried to identify them.
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-7) have arrested four accused over the killing of a guard in Chattogram's Banshkhali, who was allegedly shot three times in the chest after trying to identify a group of armed men late on 30 July at a salt field and fish enclosure.
The arrested are Didar, 40, Ahmad Ullah, 40, Shahid, 40, and Shahidul Islam Kalu, 35, all from Saral Union of Banshkhali Upazila.
The four were arrested around 3:10am on 25 August during an operation on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Madhyaramapur area of Feni Sadar, reads a press release issued by RAB-7 today (29 August).
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Two groups had been involved in a longstanding dispute over control of fish enclosures and salt fields in the city's Tajur Ghona, the release mentioned.
According to the case statement, victim Jillur Rahman, son of Abdul Alim of Saral union, had been working for several months as a paid guard for a salt and fish-farming association in the Tajur Ghona area.
Between 11pm on 30 July and 2am the following day, a group of armed people went to Tajur Ghona, allegedly intending to take control of the area. The group allegedly threatened Jillur at gunpoint and told him to leave while he was on guard there, the statement mentioned.
It also stated that when Jillur tried to identify the people there by torchlight, several of them opened fire at him, leaving him with three gunshot wounds to the chest.
Hearing the gunshots, locals came out of their homes, forcing the attackers to flee. Jillur was later rescued by his father and locals and taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where a doctor declared him dead around 5am on 31 July.
On 2 August, Jillur's father filed a murder case with Banshkhali Police Station, naming 40 people as accused and another 20 to 30 as unidentified accused.
The case accuses the defendants of unlawful assembly and rioting, attacking with weapons, causing serious injuries, attempted murder and murder.
It also stated that they committed the offences in collusion with one another.
RAB had been tracking the named accused who remained at large after the case was filed and, acting on a tip-off about the whereabouts of several of them in Feni Sadar, arrested the four during an operation, according to the press release.
The four were handed over to Feni police for further legal proceedings, the release added.
