MILKY MURDER: Little progress in two years of investigation [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

MILKY MURDER: Little progress in two years of investigation

Local July 30, 2015

Investigation into the murder of Juba League leader Riazul Haque Khan Milky murder is progressing at sluggish pace as the Criminal Investigation Department, charged with further investigation, failed to make any noteworthy development although two years have elapsed since the murder.
All the accused, arrested, earlier are now out in bail and some of them have become fugitives since, said investigators.
The alleged masterminds of the killing are now reportedly active in running a tender syndicate and admission business in the Motijheel area, said locals and the victim’s family members.
CID on Tuesday arrested a youth named Tanzim Mahmud Tanim, 28, who, however, was not accused in the charge sheet or first information report.
CID officials said that Tanim had triggered the conflict between slain Milky and his rival SM Zahid Siddique alias Tarek by providing false information, which eventually led to the killing.
Meanwhile, CID officials said the Rapid Action Battalion, who earlier ran the investigation, had made several mistakes during their investigation which is making it difficult for CID to uncover the masterminds of the killing.
Milky, 42, Juba League Dhaka city (south) unit organising secretary, was shot dead in the capital’s Gulshan on July 30, 2013.
Tarek, joint secretary of Dhaka City (south) unit Juba League, who reportedly killed Milky, was killed in a ‘shootout’ with Rapid Action Battalion at Kaola the following night, under battalion custody.
RAB submitted a charge sheet on April 14, 2014, accusing 12 people, mostly Juba League men, and dropping the names of at least two leaders of Awami League and its youth front, who were named in the first information report.
The court on June, 2014 asked CID for further investigation after Milky’s brother Rashedul Haque Milky filed a no confidence petition against RAB’s charge sheet.
Since then, over one year has passed and CID changed three investigation officers in for the case, with no progress in the investigation.
Concerned officials of CID told New Age that their main task was to identify the masterminds of the killing, which has become difficult due to RAB’s mistakes.
The battalion did not record Tarek’s statements in the case document on whether he was alone or anyone had asked him to kill Milky. Besides, the case document also did not include phone details of Milky or Tarek, which could have shed light on who they talked to before or after the murder, said concerned CID officials.
CID’s assistant superintendent of police, Uttam Kumar Biswas, also investigation officer of the case, told New Age they sent several letters to RAB in the last few months asking them to provide Tarek’s statements and call details, but were yet to get any response.
When approached, RAB investigation and forensic wing director Mainul Islam declined to comment on the issue.
CID investigators said control of the tender syndicate, bid to establish political supremacy, take control of the extortion racket in the Motijheel area and control of admission business at Motijheel Ideal School were the main motives behind the murder.
Meanwhile, CID also could not submit progress reports of investigations on the last three court-set dates. The court fixed August 18 as the latest charge sheet submission date, but CID officials are not sure whether they can do it.
Family members are frustrated over the sluggish pace of investigation and claimed RAB tried to save the masterminds in their investigation.
RAB dropped Zahidul Islam Tipu, general secretary of Awami League Motijheel unit, and Wahidul Alam Arif, Juba League’s Dhaka city (south) unit general secretary, from the charge, though they were named in the FIR.
Meanwhile, all the arrested in the murder case have obtained bail from court and then fled, said CID special police superintendent (Metro North) Rezaul Haider.
Awami League leader Shakhawat Hossain Chanchal, accused in the case, has absconded and was recently sighted in New York city while Fahima Islam Lopa is also in hiding, said CID investigators.
Family members and locals at AGB Colony said Tipu was now controlling tender business and politics in the area. Besides, he was also in control of admission business at the Motijheel Ideal School.
Rashedul, Milky’s brother, told New Age that they were still optimistic about getting justice in the case.
The murder of Milky had shocked many as CCTV footage captured Tarek shooting him in front of Shoppers World at Gulshan 1 and leaving the spot on a motorcycle.