Cox's Bazar teacher murder: Main accused Jubo League leader placed on 5-day remand

A Cox's Bazar court has placed Jubo League leader Jahangir Alam, the main accused in a case filed over the killing of school teacher Mohammad Arif, on a five-day remand.

The police produced him before the Chakaria Senior Judicial Magistrate Court today (14 October) seeking seven days of remand for proper investigation of the case. 

After a hearing, the senior judicial magistrate granted a five-day remand, Public Prosecutor Md Shahidullah confirmed.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Jahangir yesterday during a raid at the East Madarbari area of Chattogram city, RAB-15 Captain Lt Col HM Sajjad Hossain told reporters at a press briefing in Cox's Bazar.

"There was a land dispute between Arif, the headmaster of Pekua Central School and College, and Jahangir, former chairman of Pekua upazila and former president of Upazila Jubo League. Jahangir planned to kidnap and kill Arif after 5 August. Jahangir and another arrestee, Rubel, gave this information during the initial interrogation," Sajjad said.

Rubel is currently in police custody on a five-day remand, police sources said.

"Jahangir was directly involved in Arif's kidnapping, killing and disposing of the body in a pond. Further investigation and questioning are underway," added the RAB official.

Arif was abducted by some unknown individuals on the night of 28 September when he was returning home from the Chowmuhoni area, according to his family.

Since then, his family has been claiming that Jahangir Alam and his brother Ajgir Alam, the relief affairs secretary of the same Jubo League unit, were behind the abduction.

Their claim is based on a long-standing dispute between the two families over the ownership of lands. Arif's home is adjacent to the house of Jahangir and Ajgir and the abandoned pond, owned by Arif, is located between the two homes.

After he was taken, the abductors demanded up to Tk40 lakh in three phases until 3 October. His family even paid Tk50,000 through the mobile financial services app Nagad, said his family members.

Alleging negligence by police, family members said they lodged a general diary after Arif went missing and filed a case at Pekua Police Station on 1 October after the abductors started demanding ransom.

On 12 October, RAB arrested Md Rubel Khan Chattogram city, hours before Arif's body — inside a weighted sack — was recovered from a pond beside his house.

Police had tracked the last location of Arif's phone at Jahangir's home but did not take any action saying Arif went into hiding on his own, claimed the family members including Arif's wife, sister and brother.

After his body was found, angry locals on Friday afternoon vandalised and torched Jahangir's home and the market he owns in the area. After the fires were quickly doused, police raided his home later that evening and found blood and some evidence of a possible murder in one of the rooms. The blood and evidence were sent for testing, confirmed Pekua police OC Sirajul.

Arif's sister Yasmin Akhtar said, "In our area, my brother had disputes only with Jahangir and Ajgir over land ownership. After he was abducted and his phone's location was tracked to Jahangir's home, we had urged police multiple times to raid their house. But they didn't do anything. If they had, my brother would have been found alive."

However, OC Sirajul rejected the negligence claim, saying, "Police looked into this matter with utmost importance from the start."