Body Found in Drum in Sherpur: Jhinuk Killed Over Tk 1,200 Dispute, Four Arrested

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has solved the murder of Jhinuk Akter, 26, whose body was recovered from inside a drum under a bridge in Sreebardi, Sherpur. PBI Sherpur has arrested four people, including the alleged mastermind of the killing.

PBI Sherpur Superintendent of Police Pankaj Dutta PPM disclosed the information on Sunday afternoon at the PBI office in the Girdanarayanpur area of Sherpur town. According to the PBI, the killing stemmed from a dispute over money, and the body was dumped about 200 kilometres away to conceal the crime.

The arrested are Mahbuba Akter Fatema, 44, of Kushiara village in Daudkandi upazila of Cumilla; Md Nur Islam Babu, 44, of Dighalgram in Boda upazila of Panchagarh; Md Sajal, 44, of Baghmara Shishua village in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur; and Nur Mohammad Gosa, 44, of Garjaripa village in Sreebardi upazila of Sherpur.

The PBI superintendent said that on October 22, the body of Jhinuk Akter, daughter of Shakil Mia of Tongi in Gazipur, was recovered from inside a floating drum under the Kuremoni canal in the Kurikahania area of Sreebardi upazila.

Jhinuk's aunt Shirina Akter then filed a murder case with Sreebardi police station against Jhinuk's husband Md Saiful Islam Munna and four to five unnamed persons.

Alongside the police station, the PBI began a shadow investigation of the case. Later, the investigation was formally handed to PBI Inspector Md Mahbubur Rahman.

The investigation found that on October 21, Jhinuk Akter was taken to the room of Jewel, a tenant of Abdus Sattar, in Dhaka's Dakshinkhan area. There Fatema gave her Tk 1,200, but an argument began when Jhinuk demanded more money. At one stage Fatema hacked her repeatedly with a boti, and the accused then strangled her with a gamchha to confirm her death, according to the investigation.

The accused then stuffed Jhinuk's body into a plastic drum, loaded it onto a vehicle and dumped it under the Kurikahania bridge in Sreebardi, about 200 kilometres away.

During the investigation, the PBI arrested the four suspects and produced them before the court. Md Nur Islam Babu has already given a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a Sherpur court.

Pankaj Dutta said it was a clueless murder and that the killing took place over a dispute about sharing money. He said all members of PBI Sherpur worked as a team from the filing of the case and solved the mystery in the shortest possible time, adding that the incident proves once again that no matter how hard criminals try, a crime can never be buried.