The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) claims to have arrested a “serial killer,” who took up the guise of a Baul singer to prevent law enforcers from arresting him for the murder of three people in Bogra some 20 years ago.
Forty-five-year-old Helal Hossain — who is also known by the aliases Selim Fakir, Baul Selim and Khuni Helal — was arrested from Bhairab railway station in Kishoreganj on Wednesday.
Helal, after committing the murders, changed his identity and become a Baul singer, RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Khandaker Al Moin told a media call on Thursday.
“All three murder cases filed against him were over turf wars in Bogra. He was known as a fearsome criminal in the district,” Moin said.
Helal was given life sentence over two murders in 1997 and 2001, the RAB official said, adding that he is accused of a third murder in 2006.
He was arrested in 2015 in a theft case filed in 2010 and secured bail before fleeing Bogra and coming to Dhaka in a “shrewd move”, said the senior RAB official.
“He has been living as a drifter in different parts of the country for about seven years, and living with a woman near Bhairab railway station for the last four. He would sing at the station and make a living taking alms from people,” Moin added.
The infamous criminal appeared in the video accompanying the song “Bhanga Tori Chera Pal” published on YouTube in May 2016, which has gone on to garner nearly 46 million views on the video-sharing platform.
Helal had been walking along the rail tracks at Narayanganj station when the filmmaker made him an offer to star in it.
“Some people of Bogra recognized Helal in the music video and contacted us. We were able to arrest him after a six-month effort based on various intel,” said Moin.
