The Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested five people in connection with the killing of Deepto TV staffer Tanjil Jahan Islam Tamim over a flat handover-related dispute at Hatirjheel area in the capital.
The arrestees identified as Abdul Latif, Md Kurban Ali, Mahin, Mozammel Haque Kabir and Badhan - were apprehended from the Malibagh and Rampura areas during raids, DMP's Tejgaon Zone Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Kabir Khan told reporters at a briefing on Friday.
He said that a case was filed with the Hatirjheel Police Station over the killing of Tanjil accusing 16 individuals.
Tanjil, who was a broadcast officer at Deepto TV, succumbed to injuries sustained during a violent altercation at an under-construction building at
Mohanagar Project's D-Block with employees of real estate developer Pleasant Properties and owners of other flats of the building on Thursday.
At the press briefing, Ruhul Kabir said Tanjil’s father Sultan Mahmud, who owns a portion of the land where the building is being constructed, entered an agreement with real estate developer company Pleasant Properties (Pvt) Ltd a few days back.
There was a long-standing dispute between the landowners and the company regarding the allotment of flats to the owners as per the agreement.
According to police officials, the nine-storey building, comprising 27 flats, has been constructed on a piece of land owned by three people, including Sultan.
While talking to the media on Thursday, Sultan said as per the contract, each landowner was entitled to four and a half flats, but Pleasant Properties had been delaying the transfer of his share despite handing over the flats of the two other owners.
The situation escalated when Pleasant Properties' employees began construction work on a flat occupied by the developer company. Sultan and Tamim intervened to stop the work, leading to a violent confrontation, the family members said.
“Department of Narcotics Control Deputy Director Mohammad Mamun is also involved in occupying the flat. They forcefully occupied the flats by holding the flats and landowners hostage with the hooligans,” alleged Sultan.
He also alleged that DMP Detective Branch former chief Harun-Or-Rashid's father-in-law Solaiman Mia, who also worked at the narcotics control department, helped Mamun in grabbing the flats.
“But the developers had already handed over the flats of the other two landowners in June 2022,” he said.
When asked about the allegation of launching the attack by sending his men, Sheikh Rabiul Alam Robi, managing director of Pleasant Properties, told reporters that he did not send anyone there.
“I sent an engineer to instruct them to stop the work. There was no attack at the location,” he said.
