Son ‘kills mother over property’

A 55-year-old woman was killed allegedly by her son and six others in Noakhali's Subornachar upazila.

Police said Humayun Kabir Huma, 28, the victim's son, and six others strangled Noor Jahan to death and then cut her body into pieces and threw them onto a paddy field of one Amir Hossain, who had lent money to Huma's step-brother Belal, to frame him in the murder.

Noor Jahan was married to another person who fathered Belal, locals said.

Belal took Tk 4 lakh as loans from local NGOs and Amir Hossain for rearing cattle and farming fish, and Noor Jahan was the guarantor of the money, police added.

As Belal died around one and a half years ago, the lenders put pressure on Noor Jahan and Huma to repay the money.

Huma suggested that his mother sell some of the land that Belal owned to pay back the money, but she refused. This angered Huma, who then planned to kill his mother,  Noakhali Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Alamgir Hossain said.

After police recovered the body parts, Huma filed a murder case with police on October 8 accusing unknown people of killing his mother.  

Fifteen days later, police arrested five suspected killers, including Huma, yesterday and arranged a press briefing where they said Huma was the one who planned the killing and executed it with the aid of six friends. 

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Chattogram Range Md Anwar Hossain and SP Alamgir briefed journalists at his office. 

DIG Anwar said three arrestees, including the prime accused Huma, confessed to the killing before a court under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure yesterday.

After interrogating the arrestees, police recovered a kitchen cleaver, a machete, a shovel, a pillow and a shari that was worn by the victim. 

Anwar said the body was recovered over two days, and on the second day, Huma filed the murder case.

"Several police teams led by SP Alamgir worked for 15 days to unearth the clueless murder. They [were able to] identify the killers and recover the weapons used in the killing," he said. 

When SP Alamgir consulted locals, police suspected Huma's involvement in the killing. With the investigation going on, they first detained Huma's friend Nirob, 26.

Acting on information from Nirob, police arrested Huma's neighbour Nur Islam Kashai, 38, and recovered the sharp weapons used in the murder and the victim's clothes.

Nirob and Nur Islam confessed their involvement in the killing before a court later, the SP said.  

Based on their confession, police arrested Huma.

After interrogating him, they arrested his cousin Kalam alias Mamun, 26, and another cousin's husband Sumon, 25, he said.  

As part of the plan, Huma and the others had a meeting on the night of October 6 to execute the plan.

All seven of them then strangled Noor Jahan to death with a pillow on her face. After she died, they cut the body into pieces and scattered across Amir's paddy field, police said.  

Locals first noticed the head and another part of Noor Jahan's body on October 7 afternoon and informed police, who later recovered other body parts.