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Police have arrested three people, including the driver of a bus named Raj Classic, in connection with the recovery of the body of Ismail Hossain, 50, from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway in the capital’s Banani area.
Police said the suspects planned the murder after the bus supervisor noticed a bundle of cash tucked around Ismail’s waist while collecting his fare. They allegedly killed him and took his money.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner (Crime) Md Faruk Hossain disclosed the information at a press conference at Minto Road on Sunday (September 6).
The arrested suspects are bus driver Sohel Rana, 41, supervisor Saju alias Limon, 26, and driver’s assistant Md Monir Hossain, 19.
According to police, an unidentified man’s body was found lying on the Airport-bound side of the Elevated Expressway near the stadium area under Banani Police Station at around 8:45am on Friday (September 4).
Police recovered the body and found that the victim’s face and both hands had been wrapped with adhesive tape. There were also dark marks around his neck.
The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for an autopsy, while fingerprints were collected to establish his identity. The victim was later identified as Ismail Hossain, and his family members confirmed his identity by seeing photographs of the body.
Ismail’s son later filed a murder case with Banani Police Station.
Police said Ismail had travelled from his village in Jamalpur to Gazipur’s Kashimpur carrying Tk 500,000 from the sale of land. His son Hasan had been waiting for him at the Jirani bus stand, but Ismail’s mobile phone was switched off.
Investigators began examining CCTV footage from the Elevated Expressway following the incident. A bus with suspicious movements was identified from the footage. Police later seized the Raj Classic bus from the Mohakhali bus terminal and arrested its supervisor Saju alias Limon and assistant Monir Hossain. The driver, Sohel Rana, was arrested in a separate raid.
During preliminary interrogation, the suspects allegedly confessed to their involvement in the murder.
Police said Ismail boarded the bus at Digpait bus stand in Jamalpur at around 4:30am on September 4. When supervisor Saju asked him to pay the fare, Ismail took money from the folds of his lungi around his waist. Saju then noticed the remaining cash and told the driver that the passenger was carrying a large amount of money and was probably a businessman.
The suspects subsequently planned to rob Ismail. According to the plan, they did not allow him to get off at the Chandura bus stand. After dropping the other passengers at different locations in Gazipur, the bus continued towards Dhaka with Ismail on board.
At one point, the supervisor and the driver’s assistant allegedly restrained Ismail by wrapping adhesive tape around his face and hands. They then used a towel to suffocate him, police said.
After confirming his death, the suspects drove the bus to Banani via the Elevated Expressway from the airport. While making a U-turn to head back towards the airport, they allegedly dumped Ismail’s body on the expressway.
Police said Ismail was carrying Tk 500,000, although the suspects did not admit to taking the entire amount during interrogation. They reportedly told investigators that they took around Tk 250,000.
Asked whether Ismail was the only passenger on the bus at the time, Joint Commissioner Faruk Hossain said the suspects had told him to go to sleep, assuring him that they would wake him up and let him off when they reached his destination.
After Ismail fell asleep, the other passengers were dropped off at their respective destinations. The suspects then allegedly took advantage of the situation to keep Ismail on the bus and kill him instead of letting him off.