Within 10 days of recovering the body of BUET student Fardin Noor Parash, police had arrested the main suspect named in the case and gathered information on his whereabouts prior to the murder. The Rapid Action Battalion was also conducting another investigation.
But three weeks have passed since then and there have been no notable updates on the investigation. Those involved in the probe have, however, claimed they are making progress.
Fardin had boarded a passenger carrier, locally known as a leguna, from Dhaka’s Jatrabari on the night of his disappearance, police detectives said on Nov 17. However, the investigators were unable to provide any further information.
On the other hand, the media, citing RAB, reported that Fardin was killed by drug peddlers in Chanpara. However, DB officials are sceptical about the report.
Law-enforcing agencies still have not been able to crack the case and Fardin's classmates and father Kazi Nuruddin have expressed their disappointment over the slow pace of investigation.
Meanwhile, Fardin's female friend Amatullah Bushra, the chief suspect in the case, has been in police custody since Nov 16. The police have yet to find any evidence of her involvement in the murder. Although he initially accused her in the case, Nuruddin now wants her to be released if proven innocent.
Fardin, 24, left his home in Dhaka’s Demra after lunch on Nov 4, saying he would stay overnight with friends at a residential hall to study and planned to return home after an exam the following day, according to his family. His body was found floating in the Shitalakkhya River in Narayanganj on Nov 7.
An autopsy revealed that Fardin, the joint secretary of the BUET Debating Club who was set to travel to Spain to represent Bangladesh in a global competition, was tortured and murdered. Multiple marks of injury were on the head and chest, according to forensic doctors.
Nuruddin named Bushra as a suspect in a case filed at Rampura Police Station on Nov 10.
Bushra was taken into custody and the court granted police a five-day remand to interrogate Bushra that same day. The remand petition was unopposed as Bushra was not represented by a counsel in court. No bail application was made on behalf of Bushra, who stood in silence throughout the hearing.
Bushra was unable to provide any information about the murder during the interrogation, said Harunor Rashid, additional commissioner of DB, on Nov 17. Bushra maintained that Fardin acted normally until the two parted in Rampura, he said.
Fardin spent hours visiting several places late on the night he was murdered, police said, citing mobile phone location data and CCTV camera footage.
After accompanying his female friend Bushra to Rampura in a rickshaw, Fardin left around 9:45 pm on Nov 4. Around 11 pm, his mobile phone’s location was Zinzira in Keraniganj, on the other side of the Buriganga River.
From there, he travelled to Johnson Road in Old Dhaka around 11:15 pm. At 1:00 am on Nov 5, his location was Gulistan. He was seen in Jatrabari at 2:15 am.
Harunor said CCTV footage showed Fardin walking in Jatrabari.
A man in a white T-shirt escorted him afterwards to a small, white passenger carrier. There were already three to four people on it.
Harunor said it did not appear Fardin was forced to get into the vehicle.
The vehicle moved towards Tarabo in Narayanganj’s Rupganj via Biswa Road after picking up Fardin.
Citing RAB, several media outlets reported his location was Chanpara, a hotspot for drug peddling surrounded by rivers in Rupganj, at 2:35am. Some suggested he was beaten to death by drug dealers.
His family and friends said Fardin was not a smoker, let alone a drug abuser.
The investigators are also puzzled why the BUET student travelled to Chanpara when he was supposed to be studying with his friends in preparation for their exam the next day.
Md Mojibur Rahman, the investigating officer of the case, said, "The driver of the Laguna was interrogated.”
THE PROBE SHOULD NOT LEAD TO 'FABRICATED' CONCLUSIONS: NURUDDIN
Though a month has gone by, Nuruddin still has not received any conclusive evidence about his son’s murder.
"Fardin's murder was pre-planned. They planned well. They managed to stay out of CCTV surveillance areas. Perhaps this is why the investigation is being delayed.”
"Bushra’s footage was available when Fardin’s was not. The investigating agency could not find anything in their probe. It is very disappointing.”
Nuruddin said that he wanted the true facts to come to light, even if the investigation takes time.
“The speed of the investigation is very slow, but I am willing to give the investigators time. Let them solve the mystery and arrest the culprits.”
“But do not cover up the murder with misleading and deceptive information. I think you cannot do that in my son’s case.”
Nuruddin said he would rather law enforcers say they could not give him justice than make something up.
"There should be no fabricated investigation or story in Fardin's case."
