Staff Reporter:
The wife, brother-in-law, and a close friend of shooter Faisal Karim Masud, the prime suspect in the murder of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, gave confessional statements before a Dhaka court on Wednesday night.
The three accused are — Faisal’s wife Saheda Parveen Samia, his brother-in-law Wahid Ahmed Sipu, and his friend Maria Akter Lima.
Metropolitan Magistrates Kamal Uddin and Aminul Islam Junaid recorded their statement after the trio expressed their willingness to voluntarily confess under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The court ordered the accused to be sent in jail after the recording concluded at around 12:30am on Thursday.
DMP Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution) Mia Mohammad Ashish bin Hasan confirmed the development, saying, the confessions are expected to provide crucial insights into the planning and execution of the broad-daylight shooting.
Earlier, police detained Samia and Sipu from Narayanganj and Maria from Dhaka on 14 December.
On 12 December, Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho and a prospective independent candidate from the Dhaka-8 constituency, was shot and critically injured on Box Culvert Road in the capital’s Paltan area.
Later, upon reviewing CCTV footage from the surrounding area, it was found that while Sharif Osman Hadi and his associate were travelling in a battery-run auto-rickshaw, two unidentified assailants arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on Osman Hadi with the intent to kill.
Osman Hadi was critically injured in the shooting and was first taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He was later transferred to Evercare Hospital. On December 15, he was flown to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he died on 18 December.
Police later claimed that after reviewing the footage, they identified Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh as the attackers, with Faisal firing the shots and Alamgir driving the motorcycle.
On 14 December, Abdullah Al Jaber, member secretary of Inqilab Moncho, filed a case with Paltan Model Police Station over the incident.
