Woman helps police track down Pathao rider killer, killer confesses
During primary interrogation, Nuruzzaman described the way he had killed Milon, hijacked his bike, and took his phone
Using modern high- tech and with proactive assistance of a woman, detectives arrested the killer of the Pathao, a ridesharing business through mobile app, driver in the capital on Sunday, and sent to jail on Monday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested the killer Nuruzzaman Opu on Sunday night from Shahjahanpur area; Nuruzzaman killed Md Milon, a driver working for Pathao, on Mouchak-Malibagh flyover in the night of August 26.
The investigating officer, DB Inspector Md Nurul Islam presented the accused before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, where Magistrate Baki Billah recorded his confession and ordered to send him to the Jail.
Atikul Islam, a senior assistant commissioner of Detective Branch (East), told The Business Standard that the killer is a professional bike hijacker. During primary interrogation, Nuruzzaman described the way he had killed Milon, hijacked his bike, and took his phone.
“We also recovered the bike and the mobile phone from the killer’s possession” said Atikul Islam.
The killer sold the phone to a security guard (Mosharraf), a resident of Shahjahanpur for Tk2, 500. The investigating officers attempted at tracking the killer through the unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of the phone, but were unsuccessful in their attempt.
Afterwards, using sophisticated technology, detectives came to know that a new SIM card has been inserted in the stolen phone set.
The police found the SIM registered in the name of a driver (Rafiq), whose whereabouts were unknown to his neighbours. As the police talked to more than 100 people in the area (Shahjahanpur) where the driver lives, a woman came forward with information that lead them to the killer.
Acting on the information provided by the woman, police easily traced the buyer of the phone, Mosharraf.
During interrogation, Mosharraf informed that Nuruzzaman took back the phone by force, as Mosharraf could not make full payment for the phone.
He helped the DB team to locate the rented house of Nuruzzaman by providing a personal phone number of the killer.
After tracking his phone number, a DB team led by Senior Assistant Commissioner Atikul Islam raided the house of the killer on Sunday night and arrested him.
The killer confessed to the murder
On the night of the killing, Nuruzzaman was waiting on some ride-sharing drivers waiting for passengers near Abul Hotel.
He then approached couple of the drivers, asking each of them to carry him on a contract basis rather than using apps. After being rejected by couple of the drivers, Milon finally accepted his offer.
He agreed to carry the victim at Tk50 from Abul Hotel to Gulisthan via Malibagh Flyover.
Once they reached near the Padma Diagnostic Center, located near Malibagh on the flyover, the killer asked the victim to stop the bike and offered a cigarette.
Eventually, they even got themselves smoking cigarettes together, when the killer cunningly pleaded Milon to allow him to drive his bike. Sensing trouble, Milon repeatedly denied and eventually got into a fight.
At one stage of struggling, Nuruzzaman slit the throat of Milon with an anti-cutter.
Then, Nuruzzaman hijacked the bike and his phone set. He kept the bike in an under-construction building at Gulbagh area, and left for his residence.
After being stabbed, Milon ran to Shantinagar as he bled profusely. There, two pedestrians rescued him, and took him to the patrol police.
Subsequently, he was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where he got seven stiches on his neck, but the bleeding continued. Afterwards, Milon was shifted to National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), where he succumbed to his injuries.
Milon’s wife Shilpi filed a murder case with the local police in this connection.