Seizure of yaba part of police plan, intelligence agency report claims

Teknaf and Ramu police stations of Cox's Bazar neither found any yaba pill nor cannabis from the private car of Major (retd) Sinha Md Rashed Khan.

They did not find it in the rooms of Sinha and his companions at the resort in Himchhori either, as revealed in an intelligence agency investigation report.

An investigation team of the agency prepared the report after visiting the crime scene and the nearby area.

The eight-page report reads that the investigation team also visited the rooms of Nilima Resort where Sinha and his co-travellers had been staying since early July. 

"No sign of yaba use was found in these rooms. Also, the team found 800 yaba pills from Teknaf police station Officer-in-Charge Pradip Kumar Das' almirah. And the pills looked like the 50 yaba pills, mentioned in the case statement, that police claimed to have seized," the report says.

When questioned about the report, Cox's Bazar Superintendent of Police (SP) ABM Masud Hossain declined to make any comment. 

Cox's Bazar Additional Superintendent (Administration) of Police Iqbal Hossain also refrained from making any comment. 

The intelligence agency investigation report also makes note of the fact that Sinha's pistol and holster were found very smooth and clean. "That also makes it clear that the claim by the police that Sinha first pulled his pistol is wrong."  

Meanwhile, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mohammad Khairul Islam has been appointed the new investigating officer of the Sinha murder case.

Khairul, who is a member of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-7, replaces the previous investigating officer, ASP Jamilul Haque of RAB-15.

RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Lieutenant Colonel Ashik Billah was speaking to The Business Standard on the development in the case. 

By upholding professional principles and demonstrating discretion in handling several sensational cases in the past, the new investigating officer has proved his professionalism, Ashik said. 

Meanwhile, RAB has taken four police personnel, accused in the murder case, and three witnesses into its custody from Cox's Bazar district jail for interrogation.

They have all been placed on a seven-day remand.

Among the accused are police Assistant Sub-Inspector Liton Mia, constables Safanur Karim, Kamal Hossain and Abdullah Al Mamun, and three witnesses named in the police case over the killing – Nurul Amin, Nizam Uddin and Ayas Uddin. 

Ashik also said the investigation officer will take the prime accused – OC Pradeep, Baharchhara police outpost Inspector Liakat Ali and Sub-Inspector Nanda DulalRakkhit – into custody for interrogation after quizzing these seven accused.