The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will probe the finances of the suspects in the murder of madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi.
The CID found traces of hefty monetary transactions were made in relation to her murder and to sweep the sexual harassment incident under the rug, CID Organised Crime Unit Superintendent Mollah Nazrul Islam told Bangla Tribune.
He said that he finances of all the suspects including the now withdrawn Shonagazi police OC Moazzem will be scrutinised.
“We initially got the information through media reports. CID has launched primary investigation into the source of the money,” said Islam.
He added that the sexual assault and murder case will be probed by Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) while CID will investigate the allegations of money laundering.
“The banking transactions of the accused will be scrutinized,” he said and added that a CID probe team will be going to Shonagazi next week.
Several influential locals and politicians including Moazzem Hossain tried to pass off the arson attack on Nusrat and her death as suicide.
Moazzem was withdrawn from his post as OC on allegations that Siraj-ud-Daula, the madrasa principal who ordered the attack and his cohorts spent a hefty amount of money to influence the case.
Saying that it will be probed whether monetary transactions were involved from the very beginning, Islam said, “If we find any trace of money laundering during our investigation, we’ll file a case with Shonagazi police.”
Nineteen-year-old Nusrat was set on fire on Apr 6, the day of her Alim exam, for refusing to lift sexual assault charges against now withdrawn madrasa principal Siraj-ud-Daula.
She died of extensive burn injuries on Apr 10 at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital Burn Unit.
PBI has arrested 18 people so far and three have already confessed that they carried out the attack at the behest of Siraj.