SAVAR — Law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have apprehended nine individuals, including the suspected ringleader, in connection with the brutal murder of Special Branch (SB) Police Sub-Inspector Altaf Hossain.
The arrests were confirmed on Monday afternoon by Saiful Alam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Savar Model Police Station. Joint operations conducted by police units and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) across Aminbazar in Savar and the launch terminal area of Munshiganj Sadar led to the detentions. Following their capture, all nine named suspects were produced before the court with formal applications for police remand. Investigators have sought a ten-day remand for the primary accused, Jahirul Islam, alongside seven-day remands for the remaining eight individuals.
The other eight suspects have been identified as Alauddin (26), Apon (30), Jihad (20), Imran (26), Nur Mohammad Rudra (24), Md Rakib Miah (28), Tsabbir Ahmed (24), and Md Wasim (40), all hailing from the Aminbazar locality. Officials from RAB disclosed that at least one of the arrested suspects is a habitual offender with three pre-existing narcotics cases registered at Savar Police Station.
The fatal encounter unfolded on the evening of 5 September between 8:30 pm and 11:00 pm in the Bardeshi area of Aminbazar. A trivial dispute over parking an auto-rickshaw triggered the violent sequence of events, during which a group of men began beating a local garage owner. Sub-Inspector Altaf Hossain (58), who was accompanied by his son Ariful, intervened to protest against the unlawful violence. An intense altercation erupted between the officer and the attackers.
As the confrontation escalated, Sub-Inspector Hossain revealed his identity as an active police officer in an effort to calm the crowd. The disclosure had the opposite effect, provoking the aggressors to launch a direct physical assault on him. Fearing for their safety, the officer and his son fled the scene and sought refuge inside a nearby garment factory operated by Ariful.
The attackers summoned an additional cohort of 15 to 20 accomplices. Armed with native weapons and heavy wooden staves, the mob forcibly breached the factory’s main gates and stormed the facility. They vandalised industrial machinery and office furniture before turning on the officer and his son, beating both men mercilessly.
Local residents eventually intervened, rescuing the severely injured pair and rushing them to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka. Attending physicians declared Sub-Inspector Hossain dead upon arrival.
Following the tragedy, the deceased officer’s widow lodged a murder case at Savar Model Police Station, naming 15 individuals alongside several unidentified accomplices. OC Saiful Alam emphasised that multi-agency intelligence operations remain ongoing to track down and arrest all outstanding fugitives named in the charge sheet.
