Rifat murder: 4 fugitive accused surrender

Rifat murder: 4 fugitive accused surrender

A fugitive accused of Rifat murder case was sent to Barguna jail while three others to a juvenile correction centre in Jashore after they surrender before courts today.

Mohaiminul Islam Sifat along with three other accused surrendered before the court of Barguna Senior Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Sirajul Islam Gazi and sought bail, reports our Patuakhali correspondent.

The magistrate sent Sifat to Barguna district jail and also referred three others to Barguna Juvenile Court of Judge Hafizur Rahman as they are under 18 years old.

Later, the juvenile court sent the three boys to Youth Development Centre in Jashore, Golam Mostafa Quader, a lawyer of the accused, told the correspondent.

On September 18, a Barguna court accepted the charge sheet against Rifat’s wife Ayesha Siddika Minni and 23 others in Rifat Sharif murder case.

With the latest surrender of the four accused, nine are in jail while nine others in Jashore juvenile correction centre, four remain absconding and two-- Minni and Arian Srabon -- are now on bail.

HOW WAS RIFAT MURDERED?
Rifat Sharif, 25, an internet service provider, was hacked to death in broad daylight in front of Minni’s college in Barguna town on June 26.

In the CCTV footage of the incident, Minni was seen screaming and trying to save her husband from the attackers.

Police arrested Minni after a daylong interrogation on July 16. A court placed her on a five-day remand the following day. Three days later, a Barguna court recorded her statement.

On August 29, the High Court granted bail to Minni on conditions that she cannot talk to the media and she will remain in her father’s custody.

On September 1, police pressed charges against Minni and 23 others for alleged involvement in the murder of Rifat Sharif in Barguna, an incident that triggered a huge public outcry across the country.

The name of the prime accused Sabbir Hossain Nayan alias Nayan Bond has been excluded from the charges as he was killed in a “gunfight” on July 2, six days after the murder.