Netrokona Journalist Alif Murder: Two Accused Tell Court Tajul Fired the Shot

Two arrested accused have given confessional statements in court in the murder case of journalist Lutfuzzaman Alif in Durgapur, Netrokona. Police, citing those statements, say the killing was planned by Tajul Islam and that Tajul himself shot Alif with a pistol.

Imran Islam, also known as Emon, 24, and Sabbir Ahmed, 25, recorded their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before Senior Judicial Magistrate Nurul Amin Bhuiyan of the Durgapur Chowki Court on Sunday afternoon, November 1. Recording began at 3:45 p.m. and ended at 7 p.m., after which the magistrate ordered them sent to jail.

Durgapur police station officer-in-charge Khandaker Shaker Ahmed said on Sunday night that, according to the statements, Tajul Islam had a prior dispute with journalist Alif and the killing followed from that dispute. The accused worked as associates of Tajul in various activities.

The officer said the men had various businesses in the border area. In their account, Alif obstructed those activities and passed information to law enforcement agencies, which fuelled resentment against him. Five people directly took part in the killing, according to the statements.

Police said Tajul fired at Alif with a pistol. Once the attackers were sure Alif was dead and local people began arriving at the scene, they fled.

The officer said names of several other people besides Tajul also came up in the statements. Their identities are being withheld for the sake of the investigation and to help arrest those involved.

Police say Tajul faces at least 13 cases covering murder, attempted murder, arms, narcotics, explosives, abduction, extortion, robbery and theft. He is linked to cross-border smuggling and runs a gang in the area under his own name, according to police.

Alif's wife, Anondita Sangma, also known as Khadija Akter, had earlier said Alif obtained information about Tajul's smuggling and weapons and passed it to the SRB. Tajul was arrested about four years ago by the force then known as RAB, now the SRB.

Officer-in-charge Khandaker Shaker Ahmed said in the last week of October that Alif had collected information on Tajul's activities and published photos and videos of Tajul's houses on Facebook. Tajul believed Alif had also given information about his weapons to law enforcement, and Alif had been attacked before over that resentment.

Alif was shot dead on the night of October 15 in the Telnajia area, next to Utrail Bazar, on the Shyamganj-Birishiri road in Durgapur upazila. He was the Netrokona correspondent of private television channel Ruposhi Bangla and ran a Facebook page called Detective Article, where he published investigative reports on smuggling and other crime and irregularities in the border area.

The day after the killing, Alif's wife filed a murder case with Durgapur police station against seven to eight unidentified people.

A district detective police team arrested Imran and Sabbir early on Saturday from the Dhanpur Bazar area of Bishwambharpur upazila in Sunamganj. That brought the number of arrests in the case to four; Sajibul Islam, also known as Apurba, was arrested on October 18 and Ashikur Rahman, also known as Prangan, on October 20.

Netrokona superintendent of police Tariqul Islam said the investigation had progressed a long way and police were now certain who else was involved. He expressed hope they would be arrested soon and brought under the law, after which details would be given at a press conference.

Meanwhile, Alif's wife Anondita Sangma has joined a private hospital in Dhaka's Dhanmondi as a nurse. The job was arranged by Kaiser Kamal, member of parliament for Netrokona-1 (Kalmakanda-Durgapur) and deputy speaker of the national parliament. She joined work last Thursday and is living in Dhaka with her two children and her mother.

Anondita Sangma said many people had phoned to offer support after news reports appeared, but as a job had now been arranged she did not need financial help from anyone else for now. She demanded the swift arrest of Tajul Islam, the shooter Shamim and everyone involved in the killing, and exemplary punishment for them.