RAB arrests absconding murder case accused after 8 years

The Rapid Action Battalion on Thursday arrested one of the main absconding accused in a case filed over the murder of the then vice-president of Chhatra League unit in the capital's Ramna area eight years ago.

Iqbal Hossain Tarek (38), who was arrested from South Keraniganj area, was accused in the murder of Mahbubur Rahman Rana, the then vice-president of Ramna Thana Chhatra League and general secretary candidate of Ramna Thana Swecchasebak League, on 23 January 2014.

RAB-3 Commanding Officer Lt Col Arif Mohiuddin Ahmed told in a press conference on Friday that Iqbal worked for the cable service provider SWIF Cable Limited, owned by Kamrul Islam and Tanviruzzaman Roni. Rana was killed over a business dispute with them.

After that incident, Iqbal went into hiding, while Kamrul was arrested with weapons in connection with the murder case.

The investigating officer of the case filed the charge sheet against the 14 accused in the court on 30 June 2015. Out of them, four were absconding. An arrest warrant was issued against Iqbal on 17 November 2020.

After the murder, Iqbal worked as a farmer in his native village in Chandpur for a few days. As he did not feel comfortable farming, Iqbal went to Jashore and started a drug business there, said RAB.

Then he came to Dhaka in 2019 and started a business of recycling discarded cartons collected from various garments. He also started a drug business in Dhaka.

He was arrested several times by the law enforcement agencies for possessing drugs during the last eight years. However, he was not identified as the murder case accused as he changed his name and introduced himself as Taher.