Murder in the trap of friendship: teenager Rakib’s body taken to Nilphamari in a carton

Photo: Collected

Md Rakibul Islam, 17, had come to Dhaka from Tangail a month ago to prepare for university admission and moved into a mess in East Shewrapara. After getting a phone call from Abdullah Al Mamun, whom he had known earlier through Facebook, he went in front of Shewrapara metro rail station on 16 September and never returned.

Over Rakib’s disappearance, his elder brother Jahurul Islam came to Dhaka and filed a general diary (GD) with Kafrul Police Station. Police launched an investigation following that GD. Later, Abdullah Al Mamun alias Mamun Sarkar was arrested through a WhatsApp number. Based on information given by him, Rakib’s body was recovered inside a carton from a betel nut orchard in Dimla of Nilphamari.

Sensational information has emerged in the police investigation into this murder. It is learnt that Mamun got acquainted with Rakib online a few months ago. Mamun works at a marketing company. After coming to Dhaka, Rakib went to his house several times. This is how a friendly relationship developed between the two. Most recently, when Rakib went to Mamun’s house on 16 September, he was beaten and pressured to pay ransom money. At one stage of a scuffle between the two at that time, Rakib’s neck was snapped and he died. Later, Mamun put the body in a carton, took it to Dimla in Nilphamari and buried it in the ground of a betel nut orchard. Before that, he called Rakib’s family on WhatsApp and demanded a ransom of Tk 15 lakh. A threat was also made to kill Rakib if the money was not paid. In the hope of getting their son back alive, the family members sent a total of Tk 4 lakh at different times but never got him back.

Mohidul Islam, joint commissioner of the DMP’s Crime Prevention North Division, gave this information at a press conference at the DMP Media Centre on Minto Road in the capital on Wednesday afternoon.

Giving details of the incident, he said Mamun took steps to conceal the body after Rakib’s death. According to the information given to police, he put the body inside a carton and wrapped it with scotch tape. Then, with the help of the house’s security guard, he took the carton to Gabtoli bus stand by autorickshaw. The carton was wrapped in such a way that there was no way to tell from the outside that there was a body inside. From Gabtoli, Mamun went by bus and other vehicles to the area of his own home in Dimla of Nilphamari. On the night of 17 September, he dug a hole in a betel nut orchard in front of the house. He then buried Rakib’s body there along with the carton.

Meanwhile, after Rakib went missing, his family members were contacted on WhatsApp and a ransom of Tk 15 lakh was demanded. A threat was made to kill him if the money was not paid. The family members were also misled in various ways in order to extract the ransom. In the hope of getting Rakib back alive, the family members sent a total of Tk 4 lakh to four bKash and three Nagad numbers. Later, having not got Rakib back, his elder brother Jahurul Islam came to Dhaka and filed a missing person GD with Kafrul Police Station. After learning that Rakib had been killed, he filed a case over the abduction and ransom demand.

Police said Mamun was detained from the Shukrabad bus stand area in the capital at around 6pm on 5 October. Based on information given by him, a drive was conducted in Dimla at around 3:30pm on 6 October. Rakib’s body was recovered inside a carton from the place shown by Mamun. Later, his elder brother Jahurul Islam identified the body. The body was then sent to the morgue of Nilphamari Modern Sadar Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Police said Tk 50,000 of the Tk 4 lakh taken from Rakib’s family has been recovered. As Mamun agreed to give a confessional statement, he was sent to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka on Wednesday. DMP Joint Commissioner Mohidul Islam said whether anyone else was involved in this murder, the transactions of the ransom money and other matters related to the incident are being looked into. However, Mamun has confessed to killing Rakib during interrogation. The case is currently under investigation.