Son confesses to murdering father over land dispute in Chittagong
Photo Collected
A 32-year-old man has confessed to orchestrating the murder of his father two years ago to prevent the sale of family property. Belal Hossain, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, admitted to the killing in a statement before a Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate on Sunday, following his arrest by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in the city’s Maijjertek area.
The victim, 60-year-old cook Meer Mujibur Rahman, had been reported missing by his daughter, Salma Begum, in July 2024. Following the daughter’s court-ordered complaint, investigators linked the disappearance to an unidentified body discovered in the Halishahar Ring Road area in June 2024. At the time of discovery, police were unable to identify the victim, who was found in a jungle with a towel wrapped around his neck, and he was subsequently buried as an unclaimed body.
According to PBI investigators, the motive was rooted in a financial dispute over ancestral land. Rahman, a native of Banshkhali, had reportedly been selling portions of his property to fund the medical expenses of his second wife, who was battling cancer. This move angered his children from his first marriage, including Hossain, who feared the total depletion of the family’s remaining estate.
Hossain devised an elaborate trap, initially posing as a land broker to confirm his father’s intent to sell the remaining plots. When the victim inadvertently contacted a female acquaintance of Hossain’s via a wrong number, the son seized the opportunity to lure his father into a fatal setup. Under the guise of a romantic interest, the woman invited Rahman to her residence in the Bakalia area.
Upon his arrival on June 7, 2024, the victim was drugged by the woman and Hossain’s relative, Abdul Jalil, who was waiting at the scene to assist in the operation. Once incapacitated, Rahman was transported via an auto-rickshaw and subsequently transferred to a hired microbus driven by Hossain. The suspects then drove to the city’s Outer Ring Road, where they strangled the victim with a towel and discarded his body in a nearby forest.
Jalil was apprehended in Mirsharai alongside Hossain during the PBI operation. Authorities are currently searching for the woman involved in the conspiracy. PBI Inspector Mostafizur Rahman stated that forensic evidence and the confession corroborated the victim’s identity, finally closing the two-year-old cold case. Salma Begum, the victim’s daughter, has publicly called for the harshest possible penalty for her brother, stating that his actions demand a judicial precedent to prevent future crimes of this nature.
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