Shawdesh Desk: Police on Tuesday morning took Aysha Siddika Minni, wife of Rifat Sharif, who was hacked to death in broad daylight in Barguna town on June 26, to the police superintendent’s office for interrogation.
A team of police went to Aysha Siddika’s residence near Barguna Police Lines at about 9:45am and took her to the SP office, said witnesses.
However, Barguna SP Maruf Hossain said that police brought Minni to his office to take her deposition as a witness in the murder case.
Md Humayun Kabir, inspector of Sadar police station, also the investigation officer of the case, along with the SP, was taking her deposition under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the sake of investigation, said the police.
The police also sought Minni’s cooperation to identify the murder suspects.
The new development came after Rifat’s father Dulal Sharif and locals demanded Minni’s arrest alleging that she had a part to the gruesome murder of her husband.
At a press conference at Barguna Press Club on Saturday night, Dulal Sharif demanded the arrest of his daughter-in-law to investigate whether she had any link with the killers.
He had alleged that Minni concealed the matter that she was previously married to Sabbir Ahmed alias Nayon Bond, the prime accused of the Rifat murder case who was killed in a reported gunfight with police on July 2, and she used to visit Nayon’s house frequently.
Besides, instead of trying to protect Rifat on the day, she was ‘busy with herself’ and even ‘helped the killers’, according to Dulal.
He raised a 10-point allegation against Minni who had been made the first witness in the case.
Besides, local people formed a human chain on Barguna Press Club premises on Sunday morning demanding arrest of Minni.
Huge people, including Rifat’s father Dulal Sharif, participated in the human-chain programme.
Soon after the human chain, Minni arranged a press conference at her father’s house and claimed that propaganda was being spread against her to protect the murderers.
‘My father-in-law (Dulal Sharif) is sick and he has no balance.’
She alleged that a vested group had been out to implicate her in the case through misguiding her father-in-law to protect the murder accused.
Denying the allegation of her previous marriage, Minni said, ‘Why hadn’t Nayon stood in my way when I married Rifat if I had earlier married him?’
Police have so far arrested 13 people in connection with the Rifat murder. Seven of them have confessed that they were involved in the murder.
A video clip of the murder, captured in a surveillance camera, went viral on social media. It showed that criminals were hacking Rifat Sharif brutally in broad daylight in front of Barguna Govt College while his wife Minni was trying to save him.
Rifat was sent to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal where he died.
Dulal Sharif, the father of Rifat, filed a case against 12 people.