Police in Naogaon have unravelled the motives behind the gruesome murder of 65-year-old Halima Begum, arresting five suspects, including the victim’s younger brother and sister-in-law. The elderly woman’s bloodstained body was discovered on Monday morning in a paddy field adjacent to a bamboo grove in Chilimpur village, situated within the Dhamoirhat upazila.
During a press briefing held at his office on Wednesday afternoon, Naogaon Superintendent of Police Mohammad Tarikul Islam outlined the findings of the preliminary investigation. The police operation initially led to the arrest of the victim’s brother, Majnu Rahman, and his wife, Hosne Ara. Subsequent interrogations yielded critical leads, enabling law enforcement officers to launch follow-up raids across Alampur and Chilimpur, resulting in the apprehension of three additional accomplices: Rabiul Islam, Hamidur Rahman, and Mosharaf Hossain.
Investigators revealed that a deadly cocktail of financial greed, territorial disputes, and retaliation led to the planned killing. Halima Begum, a childless widow, lived in a modest makeshift shack behind her younger brother’s house in Chilimpur. She maintained her independence by working as a domestic helper and rearing cattle, goats, and poultry. Over time, her modest savings and livestock attracted the avarice of her brother Majnu and his wife.
Simultaneously, Halima had earned the enmity of three local neighbours. Rabiul Islam, a local drug dealer, harboured intense resentment against her after learning she had reported his illicit trade to a Union Parishad member. Meanwhile, neighbours Hamidur Rahman and Mosharaf Hossain were locked in long-standing land disputes with the elderly woman. Uniting over these disparate grievances, the five individuals conspired to eliminate her.
On Sunday night at approximately 11:30 pm, Hamidur lured Halima out of her residence under a ruse. The perpetrators swiftly muzzled her, dragging her to a straw stack roughly 200 yards from her dwelling. There, they bound her hands with rope and strangled her using a scarf. During the assault, Hosne Ara forcibly tore gold earrings from the victim’s ears, severing one earlobe and tearing the other, before the group dumped her corpse behind the bamboo grove.
Police recovered the rope and scarf used in the commission of the crime, alongside other physical evidence. Following the press briefing, Dhamoirhat Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Mintu Rahman confirmed that all five accused have been produced before the court and subsequently remanded into judicial custody pending trial.
