Police has recovered an unidentified body of a woman from a bus of Eagle Paribahan in city’s Gabtoli bus terminal around six years ago.
As her identity could not be identified immediately, police mentioned the body as unidentified. Later, Sub Inspector Jhahanur Rahman filed a murder case on May 3 in 2015 with Darus Salam Police Station.
Darus Salam Police investigated the case for three months. Later, the case was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). But after three years of investigation, CID also could not find out the clue behind the murder, even they failed to identify the body.
At that stage, court ordered Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the case as it was a sensational and clueless murder. After two years of investigation, PBI finally unearthed the clues behind the gruesome killing.
PBI on Friday arrested the key accused Rezaul Karim Swapan from EPZ area in Cumilla district. Later, he also gave confessional statement.
While addressing at a press conference at PBI headquarters in the city, PBI head Deputy Inspector General Banaj Kumar Majumder disclosed it. He said, at around 9 am, one person brought a trunk on a bus of Eagle Paribahan at AK Khan Crossing in Chattagram on May 3 in 2015.
The person also told the helper of the bus that the passenger will get into the bus from the next Vatiari bus counter. But no one got into the bus using the booked ticket. As a result, the bus left for Dhaka and reached Gabtoli around 5:45 pm.
All passengers of the bus got down from the bus taking their belongings. But the helper found that the truck was kept abandoned.
Later, bus driver and helper jointly pulled down the truck and found it weighed heavy. Being suspicious, they informed local Darus Salam Police. Police found the body of a woman inside the trunk. Later, police sent the body to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
As the body was unidentified, her body was also buried as unclaimed body.
DIG Banaj Kumar Majumder said, Investigation Officer (IO) Ashrafuzzaman used all tactics to identify the body.
Senior officers gave instructions to send all information of all general diaries (GDs) regarding missing cases. Investigation officer found 10 to 12 GDs in the adjacent time of the incident.
In one GD numbering 599 which was lodged on June 10 in 2015, he found that one Shampa Begum went missing from Pahartoli area in Chattogram. Her brother-in- law Abdul Mannan lodged the GD with Pahartoli Police Station in this regard.
Following the GD, PBI also talked to Abdul Mannan and victim’s father Eliash Sheikh, who is a retired army person.
PBI came to know that retired naval personnel Rezaul Karim Shapwan worked in Titumir Naval base in Khulna. Shampa also worked as medical assistant in a Khulna Hospital that time. Her mother was also admitted into the hospital. During the time, Shampa and Swapan introduced with each other. At one stage, they fell in love. When Shampa pressured Swapan to marry her, he transferred her to Chattogram.
Later, Shampa also stayed at her aunt’s resident for some time. She also stayed at a residential hotel in Foy’s Lake area. Later, both of them rented a tin-shed house in Pahartoli area and lived till May, 2015 introducing themselves as couple. But they did not marry each other. Following disputes, Swapan killed Shampa through strangling on the night of May 2 in 2015. He brought the body to a Khulna-bound bus to hide the body. But he informed her father that Shampa was picked up on a Khulna-bound bus.
As Shampa did not come to her residence, her family members searched her at various places. At one stage, they lodged a GD with Pahartoli Police Station. Father of the slain Shampa also submitted a written complaint to Chattogram Naval office.
PBI took over the investigation charge in 2019 and finally unearthed the clue after seven years of the murder, said Banaz.