Police on Friday issued red alert at all international airports, land and river ports across the country to prevent the escape of the killers of Rifat Sharif in Barguna. “A red alert has been issued all airports, land and river ports. And the authorities concerned have been ordered to take immediate steps in order to foil any escape attempt by Rifat Sharif’s killers to cross the borders,” Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general (media) police headquarters’ told Bangladesh Post on Friday.
Meanwhile, police headquarters in a statement said, attaching the highest importance to the brutal murder, cops are working round the clock relentlessly to net the criminals. On Thursday, the High Court ordered the government to issue red alert on all the borders of the country to prevent the escape of the people who killed the youth in broad daylight in Barguna.
Meanwhile, police in a drive, arrested four people from Launch ghat area in Barishal city on Thursday night for their suspected involvement in the killing of Rifat Sharif who was hacked to death on Wednesday. The identities of the arrestees have not been disclosed as yet. Nurul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said a team of police arrested four youths from ‘Manami’ launch while it was heading to the capital on Thursday night.
Following the directives of the higher officers concerned, the law enforcers kept vigil to obstruct escape of the suspects involved in the killing, said police.
“The arrested persons are now being quizzed. Police are also conducting raids at different suspected hideouts to arrest the rest of those involved in the killing,” he said.
According to police headquarters press statement, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are also working collectively to nab the rest of the accused in the case. “We are expecting that all the accused will be netted soon,” Sohel Rana said while urging people to inform the police if they have any kind of information about the killers.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, terming the killing of Rifat a very shocking incident said, the persons involved in the killing in front of his wife will not be spared. “Our police and intelligence agencies are very skilled and capable. None will be able to cross the border by dodging us. Most of the persons involved in Rifat murder, have already been arrested. I want to make sure that the rest will also be netted immediately,” he told reporters after attending a programme at old jail in the city on Friday.
Police have launched drives to arrest the rest killers, he said, adding that the capacity of the police force has improved much compared to that a decade ago. Rifat Sharif, 22, was hacked to death by some miscreants, including Nayan, Rifat Farazi, Rishan Farazi and Rabbi Akon, in front of his wife in Barguna on Wednesday.
The entire incident was captured in a surveillance camera. It was seen in the footage that the miscreants were hacking Rifat indiscriminately while his wife Ayesha Siddiqua Minni was trying to resist the attackers. However, the attackers pushed her aside and continued to chop the youth drenching him in blood.
A case was filed in this connection accusing 12 people, including five to six unnamed persons, with Barguna Sadar Police Station. A video clip of the barbaric attack, probably captured on a mobile phone, went viral on social media, triggering public outrage with many condemning the bystanders for not coming forward to save Rifat. Ayesha alone desperately tried to save her husband from the attackers but in vain.
