Eight more accused have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Special Branch (SB) sub-inspector in Savar have been arrested, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said Monday.
Of them, four were arrested from the Munshiganj launch terminal area by RAB-10, while the remaining four were arrested from Aminbazar in Savar by RAB-4.
The arrestees are Alauddin, Apon, Jihad, Imran, Nur Mohammad Rudra, Rakib Mia, Sabbir Ahmed and Md Wasim.
RAB-10 Commanding Officer Additional DIG Md Asaduzzaman disclosed the information at a press briefing at the RAB Media Centre at Karwan Bazar.
Earlier, police arrested Jahirul, the prime accused in the case.
According to RAB, SB SI Altaf Hossain, 58, was beaten to death in Bordeshi area of Aminbazar on Aug 5.
The incident took place between around 8:30pm and 11pm after Altaf protested when a private car driver and his associates were beating the owner of an auto-rickshaw garage, leading to an argument between the SI and those beating the garage owner.
At one point, Altaf identified himself as a police officer but they became more aggressive.
To save his life, Altaf ran into a garment factory owned by his son Ariful.
The attackers followed him there and called 15 to 20 more associates before breaking open the factory gate and entering the premises.
They then beat Altaf and his son Ariful indiscriminately with local weapons and sticks and vandalised machinery and furniture inside the factory.
Locals rescued the injured father and son and took them to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka where doctors declared Altaf dead.
The victim’s wife filed a murder case with Savar Model Police Station naming 15 people and several unnamed others as accused.
RAB official Asaduzzaman said Apon is a ringleader of a juvenile gang and a drug supplier. He has three cases filed with different police stations.
According to RAB, Apon hit SI Altaf on the head with an SS pipe during the attack, while Jihad seriously injured him with a knife.
In response to a question from journalists, the RAB official said the incident was an isolated one and that all the accused were under the influence of drugs at the time.