Prime suspect in Dhaka businessman murder arrested

Police have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of a businessman in the capital. 

The arrestee, Charles Rupom Sarkar, was a friend of the victim Helal Uddin, whose dismembered body parts were found on June 15 in the Airport and Dakshinkhan areas.

Rupom was arrested on Sunday night from the Gabtali area while trying to flee Dhaka, said officials at the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in a briefing on Monday.

Police had earlier arrested Rupom's wife Moni Sarkar and mother-in-law Rashida Akhter. Two days later, they admitted to committing the crime. Police were also able to recover Helal Uddin's decapitated head based on their information.

A Dhaka court on Monday granted a two-day remand for Charles Rupom after police produced him before it with a 10-day remand application. 

In Monday's briefing, DB's Additional Commissioner Abdul Baten said the victim had a small shop in Azampur's Muktijoddha Market where he had a small business of mobile financial service. 

He lived in Dakshinkhan and had first met Rupom, who also had a similar business, two years ago.

After receiving a call, Helal went to Rupom's home on Jun 14 to buy a photocopier, and was later sedated before being murdered.

During interrogation, Moni said they had given Helal tea to drink, mixed with sleeping pills. Helal fell unconscious after drinking it. Rupom and Moni then strangled him and dismembered the body into three pieces. The next morning, Rupom left the body parts in different areas, said DB official Baten.

The murderers believed that Helal had a lot of money as he ran a bKash and mobile top-up shop, according to the officer.

But they found only Tk253 in his possession. Later, they managed to cash out Tk 43,000 from Helal's phone with a bKash account. Of the amount, Tk30,000 was sent to Rashida.