United News of Bangladesh

Five people including a notorious drug trader have been arrested in connection with a shooting incident in the capital’s Pallabi area over the sharing of Tk 15 lakh earned from drug sales. The arrestees are Hamid Khan alias Makhon, drug trader ‘Lengra’ Rubel, Tanzid Ahmed alias Bappa, Parvez and Rabbi. Police recovered a foreign-made pistol, two rounds of bullet, two magazines, 1,000 Yaba pills and two vehicles allegedly used in drug trading from their possession. Additional Commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Md Shafiqul Islam disclosed the information at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Wednesday afternoon. He said the shooting took place in front of Emon’s tea stall at Mirpur Section-11 under Pallabi police station around 5:30pm on Aug 7. Alamgir was shot in the abdomen and head, while a female passerby named Josna sustained a gunshot injury to her leg, he said. Following a complaint filed by Alamgir’s wife, a case was filed with Pallabi Police Station on charges of attempted murder. The DB Mirpur Division subsequently launched a shadow investigation. With the help of video footages and information technology, investigators identified a Toyota Premio car used in the shooting and arrested its registered owner, Hamid Khan alias Makhon, from Pallabi. During interrogation, Makhon told investigators that although the car was registered in his name, its actual owner is notorious drug trader ‘Lengra’ Rubel. Based on his information, Rubel’s associates Parvez and Rabbi were arrested from the Kalshi area. Later, acting on information provided by Parvez and Rabbi, detectives arrested Lengra Rubel and Tanzid Ahmed alias Bappa in an area beside the embankment near Eastern Housing under Rupnagar Police Station. A foreign-made pistol, two rounds of bullets and two magazines were recovered from them. During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees said the shooting occurred following a dispute between Alamgir and Lengra Rubel and his associates over the sharing of Tk 15 lakh earned from drug sales. DB officials said Alamgir himself is a listed drug trader and faces several cases in Dhaka but he is the victim in this case. Responding to a question, Shafiqul Islam said anyone involved in a crime would be identified as a criminal regardless of their other identity and brought under the law. He said Rubel faces several cases and investigators are looking into whether he invested money earned from drug trading in different places. If necessary, information will be sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for possible action under the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The DB chief said preliminary interrogation also revealed that several other people, including Bappa, were in the vehicle during the shooting. Their identities are not being disclosed for the sake of investigation, and efforts are underway to arrest them. Apart from the attempted murder case, separate cases under the Arms Act and Narcotics Control Act are being processed. The arrestees may be taken on remand for further interrogation, while DB operations to arrest others involved in the incident are continuing, Shafiqul said.