Italian citizen Tavella was killed to put govt under international pressure: Police
Golam Mujtaba Dhruba, bdnews24.com
Published: 2015-10-26 22:05:31.0 BdST Updated: 2015-10-26 22:35:42.0 BdST
Police say the murder of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone was aimed at putting the government under international pressure.
The assailants’ plan was to ‘murder any white person’ to lead the other countries to believe that ‘Bangladesh was not safe for foreigners’, the law-enforcers claim.
Detective Branch officials say they teased out these information from four suspects they arrested on Sunday regarding this plot during questioning.
Three of them were the motorcycle-riding shooters who gunned down Tavella, who was returning home after jogging on the streets of Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic enclave, on Sep 28, they said on Monday.
Rasel Chowdhury alias ‘Chakti Rasel’, Minhajul Arefin Rasel alias ‘Bhagne Rasel’ aka ‘Kala Rasel’, Tamjid Ahmmed Rubel alias ‘Shooter Rubel’ and Shakhawat Hossain alias ‘Sharif’ were nabbed from Gulshan, Badda and Madhya Badda of the capital Sunday.
They were presented before the media on Monday at Dhaka Metropolitan Police headquarters.
Briefing the mediapersons, DMP Commissioner Md Assaduzzaman Mia said Chowdhury, Rasel and Rubel had taken part in the killing for a specific sum of money following orders from a ‘Borho Bhai’ (big brother).
They had used Sharif’s motorcycle in the attack, he added.
“Cesare Tavella was their specific target. Their aim was to create chaos by committing murder to put the government under international pressure.”
Although Mia did not give any ‘political affiliation’ of that ‘Borho Bhai’, he hinted towards the BNP-led 20-Party alliance.
“Police are investigating to find out whether those who burned people to death earlier this year were involved in this incident.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other ruling Awami League leaders have been making similar allegations while the BNP say their false accusations will let the real killers get away.
The BNP and its allies, who boycotted the general elections held last year, had enforced nationwide blockade and shutdowns in the first three months of 2015 to force the government to meet their demand for a snap poll under a nonpartisan administration.
More than 100 people across the country were killed and thousands injured in violence during that time.
Commissioner Assaduzzaman Mia on Monday said, “They were paid to kill as per the plan of that so-called Borho Bhai. Their target was any white person of foreign nationality.
“They didn’t know Italian Tavella before. They killed him as part of their plan.”
Asked how much the suspects were paid, he said the arrested men had separately mentioned different amounts during the primary interrogation.
“They said they were paid half of the sum first and were promised the rest after the murder. But they didn’t get that money.”
Describing the Sep 28 incident quoting the suspects, Mia said, “Rasel Chowdhury had taken up position at Gulshan’s Road No. 90 in the afternoon that day. Later, Bhagne Rasel and Rubel tailed Tavella on a motorcycle.
“They took Road No. 83 to flee after shooting him in the back.”
“These four are drug addicts and had served time in jail in different cases. Shooter Rubel is a cold-blooded killer. We also have information that Sharif is involved in illegal yaba and arms trade.”
The DMP chief said raids were being conducted to arrest the so-called ‘Borho Bhai’ and recover the weapon used to kill the Italian citizen, who worked in the Netherlands-based NGO ICCO.
Tavella used to live alone in a flat at Gulshan.
Regarding the allegation by Chowdhury’s family that he had been arrested several days ago, Asaduzzaman Mia said, “They may have gone into hiding after the murder and did not contact their families from their hideouts. But police arrested them on Sunday.”
Police had presented the four arrestees before a Dhaka court, which sent Chowdhury, Rasel and Sharif to eight days’ remand for questioning.
Court Police’s Crime, Information and Prosecution Division Assistant Commissioner Miras Uddin said the investigating officer did not seek time to interrogate ‘Shooter Rubel’, as he had already given a confessional statement.
After Tavella’s murder, media reported the detention of several suspects at different times, but police provided no confirmation.
Several witnesses had told bdnews24.com that they had seen three men fleeing the scene of the murder on a motorcycle after the shooting.
Newspapers reports on Oct 21 had published images of three men seen on CCTV footage provided by police and said the law-enforcers were looking for them as the Tavella murder suspects.
On Monday morning, DMP Detective Branch’s Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam for the first time announced the arrest of four people and the seizure of the motorcycle in the case.
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'IS drama'
Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said at the media call there was no evidence whatsoever of any militant group’s involvement in Cesare Tavella’s murder.
“The IS drama was staged to hide the real killers,” he said.
Monitoring group SITE, hours after Tavella’s murder, had reported that the Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility for the killing.
It also reported that the IS had claimed credit for the killing Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in Rangpur on Oct 3 as well.
But the government, in both cases, debunked the reports as baseless, ruling out any presence of the ultra-hard-line militant group in Bangladesh.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, cyber security experts, and detectives also said the posts on Twitter, in the name of the IS, claiming credit for the murders had been uploaded from Bangladesh.
Monirul Islam said at the briefing there was no information or statement on the IS’s website regarding Tavella’s murder. “They do not release such statements secretly.”
He said SITE Intelligence Group’s Executive Director Rita Katz had been contacted via e-mail but it got no response.
Responding to a question, Mia said they did not find any connection between the Italian’s murder and other incidents such as the killing of Hoshi and a police assistant sub-inspector, and a bomb attack on a Shia gathering in Old Dhaka.
ASI Ibrahim Molla was stabbed to death at Gabtoli last Thursday and the attack on Shias at Hossaini Dalan in the early hours of Saturday left a teenager dead and over 100 injured.
The DMP commissioner said they had found ‘material evidence’ of the involvement of one group in both incidents.
However, when asked whether Tavella’s murder was related with the killing of Japanese Hoshi, he said, “We’re not investigating that case. So, I can’t say anything about it.”
He said the security system was being revamped across the capital in view of the overall situation.
“Security has been beefed up already. Check posts have been erected. Gulshan, Baridhara and Banani – the entire area can be sealed off in two minutes in case anything happens.”
