Pir, aide killed in Ctg shrine

A pir (a revered religious instructor) along with an attendant was brutally murdered by an unknown assailant inside his shrine in Bangla Bazar area of Chittagong city yesterday afternoon.

Deceased Rahamat Ullah, 60, was popularly known as Lyangta Fakir for being in the nude most of the time, and his assistant was Khadem Abdul Kader, 30.

Locals saw a young man entering the shrine around 1:45pm. Later, they found the pir and his attendant dead with their throats slit.

The criminal exploded a homemade bomb to escape the crime scene, which injured three people, police said.

He first slit the throat of Rahamat when people of the area had gone to offer their juma prayers, said Pradip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge of Bayezid Police Station.

The man killed Kader when Kader had arrived at the scene with food for Rahamat, locals said.

Local Monir, 23, chased the tall young man when he was fleeing the scene. But the man exploded the bomb targeting Monir, which injured three people, including a boy.

Monir was given first aid while Munna, 10, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Locals Babul and Faruk also chased the man until they lost him near a hill.

They said the shrine was built on top of a hill in Bangla Bazar area around 20 years ago. Rahamat's devotees went there every Thursday.

On May 17, one Kamal Hossain was killed inside the shrine, said Kamal's sister Josna Begum.

She alleged that some local criminals, including Jalil and Rashid, had killed Kamal, who was a regular at the shrine, for protesting extortion from shops around the shrine.

Contacted, Inspector Nurul Absar of Bayezid Police Station said Jalil was arrested in connection with the murder of Kamal and he gave a confessional statement before a court.

Police said the motive behind the murder of Rahamat and Kader was unclear but they suspect that it was carried out either by a quarter with anti-shrine sentiments or for something personal.

Asked whether Rahamat and Kader's murder in broad daylight in a densely populated area signifies deterioration of law and order in the port city, Debdas Bhattacharjee, additional commissioner (crime and operation) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said he did not think so.

"The murder was carried out when people had gone to the mosques for offering juma prayers. The women were in their homes. Despite this, some locals chased the assailant," said Debdas, adding that they have information that only one person killed the two.

Police said they detained a local for questioning as he was in the vicinity during the murder.