Magura Jubo Dal leader killed by hired gunmen over share of looted gold, police say; 11 arrested
Police in Magura say municipal Jubo Dal leader Shaker Hossain was shot dead by hired gunmen following a dispute over the division of gold looted in a robbery. Eleven people have so far been arrested in two separate cases over the sensational killing and the gold robbery.
District Superintendent of Police Molla Azad Hossain gave the details at a press conference held at Magura Police Lines on Wednesday (November 4) afternoon. He said 61 bhori and 6 ana of gold had been recovered from those arrested, and a vehicle used in the robbery had been seized.
According to police, municipal Jubo Dal leader Shaker Hossain was shot at the Royal Paribahan counter at Magura municipality's central bus terminal at dawn on October 21. He later died.
Although the motive for the killing was initially unclear, the investigation uncovered a link to a gold robbery. Police say the gold robbery committed on October 6 in the Ramnagar Bazar area of Magura Sadar was led by Maruf Hossain, former convener of the municipal Swechchhasebak Dal, and Jubo Dal leader Shaker Hossain.
A gang of 12 to 15 people took part in that robbery, looting around 150 bhori of gold. A dispute later developed between Maruf and Shaker over the division of the looted gold, and the preliminary investigation indicates that Shaker was shot dead by hired killers as a result of that dispute.
Superintendent of Police Molla Azad Hossain said an organised gang was found to be involved in both the killing and the gold robbery, and that the investigation had brought out the dispute over sharing the robbed gold. Police are working to identify and arrest the others involved, he said.
However, the victim gold trader, Md Mojibur Rahman, alleged that although he filed a written complaint on October 15, police did not initially give the matter due importance. Having no alternative, he later complained to the DIG of Khulna Range.
Meanwhile, the slain Shaker Hossain's wife, Sharmin Nahar Ruma, has demanded exemplary punishment for everyone involved in her husband's killing.
The six people arrested in the murder case include Golam Zahid, the expelled former president of the district Swechchhasebak Dal; Maruf Hossain, former convener of the municipal Swechchhasebak Dal; Roni Shikdar, a member of the convener committee of Dhaka Metropolitan South Jubo Dal; Shamima Tabassum Lubna; Animesh Majumdar, a gold trader from Jhenaidah; and Bashir Ali.
Police said that of the roughly 150 bhori of gold looted, 61 bhori and 6 ana have been recovered so far, while a large part of the remaining gold is still missing. Efforts are under way to identify and arrest the hired killers who directly took part in the murder.
Police say operations are continuing to recover the remaining gold and to arrest the fugitive accused involved in the killing.
