Siam Sarower Jamil
Dhaka, July 25: A Bangladesh court on Monday afternoon put another Indian citizen on three-day remand in connection with a case filed with Chittagong, the port city’s Akbar Shah police station over the murder of a Manipuri medical student of University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC).
The remanded, Maisnam Winson Singh, 25, a final-year medical student of USTC, is also the prime suspect of the case.
After the grisly July 14 murder of Ateef Sheikh, 25, a USTC final year student and the son of Abdul Khalique of Monipur state in India, Singh tried to commit suicide. He hung himself from the ceiling but failed as two of his flatmates rescued him and rushed him to the hospital. Since then he has been undergoing treatment at a private medical centre in the city.
“Winson was produced before the court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Shahadat Hossain Bhuiyan at 12pm with a 10-day remand prayer by Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) after he was arrested from the hospital yesterday,” Assistant Commissioner (AC) (Prosecution) Kazi Shahabuddin of Chittagong Metropolitan Police told the Imphal Times.
After the hearing, the court granted him three-day remand, the AC said.
On Sunday, a Chittagong court had placed another Indian student, Gangmal Niraj, also a friend of Sheikh, on two-day remand in the case.
Sheikh’s father had filed the murder case accusing eight people, including six USTC Indian students and two Bangladeshis, on July 18.
Till now police have arrested two in this connection. Now the murder case is being investigated by the PBI.
PBI Inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma, also the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, told Imphal Times: “During the primary interrogation, Winson claimed that he cannot remember anything during the murder. In fact, he also claimed to police that he does not distinctly remember how he hanged himself from the ceiling after the murder.”
“Taking him in remand, we will question him at great length as Sheikh and Singh had drinks together after an in-house party at their flat,” he said.
The eight accused men are Tongbram Joyotsana Debi, Niraj, Singh, Athokpam Ronald, Prabhakar Laishram, Malemnganba Mayenbham, Promesh Chakma and Sojol Chakma Moon.
Police suspect that Sheikh was stabbed to death allegedly by Singh after the party and later Singh tried to kill himself.