‘Salma was killed by tenant, not her son’

Salma was killed by her “drug peddler” tenant, not by her 19-year-old son, said police yesterday contradicting Rab’s claim.
Police said this after arresting three persons on Thursday night. The arrestees are Mabia Begum, 40, and her associates Moslem Uddin, 26, and van driver Sumon Rabi Das, 28.
Umme Salma Khatun, 50, wife of Azizur Rahman, was killed in her house in  Joypirpara area of Dupachachia upazila in Bogura around 12:30pm on November 10.
On November 11, Bogura Rab-12 claimed in a press briefing that the deceased’s younger son Saad-Bin-Azizur Rahman, a 12th-grader at a local madrasa, killed her and kept the body in a freezer.
Rab arrested Saad on November 11.
At a press briefing on November 12, Rab-12 company commander Maj Ehteshamul Haque Khan told journalists after the murder, Rab interrogated the victim’s husband Azizur Rahman and Saad. “During interrogation, Saad confessed to the killing over pocket money,” he said.
However, police said Saad was not involved.
Police sources said since Saad did not confess to police or the court, they started an investigation.
Contacted, Bogura court Inspector Md Mosaddek Hossain said accused Moslem gave a confessional statement under Section 164 admitting the crime. The court granted a two-day remand for him while 5 days each for the others.
Inspector Nazmul Islam, the investigating officer (Dupchanchia Police Station) of the case, told The Daily Star, “While investigating the case, the murder timing arose doubt in us about Saad’s involvement. The murder took place between 12:30pm and 1:00pm but he was at his school from 8:00am to 2:00pm that day.”
“We recovered a key from Mabia’s house that matches the lock of the victim’s room. We also recovered the van in which they fled after the killing. During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees admitted that they had committed the murder. Mabia was the mastermind. She lived on the fourth floor of the building while Salma’s family lived on the third.”
When asked why Mabia killed her, he said Salma and her husband found out that Mabia was involved in drug trade and used to conduct business from her apartment. They also asked her to leave but she did not comply.
When asked whether the son’s confession given to Rab was false, the police official said, “I don’t know anything about that, but in our primary investigation, we found that Saad is innocent.”
Contacted, an official of Bogura Rab-12 said Rab will come up with a response regarding the issue after talking to higher officials about the matter.