Police have arrested two people, including the convener of the Demra unit of Chhatra Dal, in connection with a shooting incident targeting the residence of a local BNP leader in the capital’s Demra area.
During separate operations in Demra and Rupganj in Narayanganj, police recovered three firearms, two magazines and 13 rounds of ammunition, according to police officials.
Wari Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami confirmed the arrests and recoveries on Tuesday (1 September).
The arrested individuals have been identified as Tapas, 38, from the Borobhanga area of Demra, and Mohammad Masud Rana, 35, from Purba Boxnagar. Police said Masud Rana is the convener of Demra police station Chhatra Dal.
According to investigators, information obtained through technological assistance during the investigation of a case filed with Demra Police Station indicated Tapas’s alleged involvement in the incident. Acting on the information, police arrested him at around 2.30am on Monday (31 August) from the slope of the Sultana Kamal Bridge in Demra.
Following his arrest, police questioned Tapas and subsequently conducted an operation based on information obtained from him. The operation was carried out at a house belonging to a man named Jalil near Sharif Melamylon in the Barabo area of Rupganj, Narayanganj. Police arrested Masud Rana from the location as another suspect identified during the investigation.
Police said a search of an abandoned room at Jalil’s house led to the recovery of an old single-barrel shotgun and eight rounds of cartridges. The weapon and ammunition were reportedly found on a wooden platform inside the room.
Investigators then conducted another operation at Tapas’s rented residence in the Barabo area of Rupganj, based on information provided by the two arrested men. Two pistols, two magazines and five rounds of ammunition were recovered from a sunshade above the room where Tapas stayed.
The combined recovery brought the number of firearms seized during the operations to three, along with two magazines and 13 rounds of ammunition. Police said proceedings were under way to file a case under the Arms Act over the recovery.
The arrests and weapons seizure came several days after a shooting at the residence of Mohammad Selim, convener of the Demra thana unit of BNP, in the Sarulia area of Demra.
The incident took place in the early hours of 28 August. Police said eight people arrived in front of Selim’s residence on four motorcycles before firing three rounds at the house. The gunfire damaged a glass window on the second floor of the building.
Investigators recovered two pistol cartridge cases and one shotgun cartridge from the scene following the shooting. These items were collected as part of the investigation into the incident.
Police are now examining whether the firearms and ammunition recovered during the latest operations have any connection with the 28 August shooting. Investigators are also looking into the alleged roles of the two arrested individuals, the source of the weapons and the circumstances in which they were being kept.
The investigation remains under way, and police are expected to determine through further examination whether the recovered weapons were used in the earlier attack.
