Victim lured into trap by gang posing as passengers, then thrown from moving vehicle

Customs official Bullet Bairagi was killed by an organised mugging gang that lured him into a trap by posing as passengers, Rab said after arresting five suspects in connection with the incident.

According to Rab, the gang targeted the victim after he got off a bus at midnight in the Jagarjhuli area of Cumilla and later assaulted him before throwing him from a moving CNG-run auto-rickshaw, causing his death on the spot.

MZM Entekhab Chowdhury, director of Rab’s Legal and Media Wing, disclosed the information at a press briefing held at the Rab Media Centre in Karwan Bazar this noon.

The arrestees are Md Sohag, Ismail Hossain Jony, Imran Hossain Hridoy, Rahat Hossain Jewel and Sujon. They were arrested in separate drives in Cumilla.

Rab said the five are active members of an organised mugging gang.

According to the elite force, the victim went missing on April 24 while returning to Cumilla from Chattogram after a training programme.

At around 8:45am on April 25, his body was recovered from beside a hotel in the Kotbari area on the Dhaka–Chattogram highway by Moynamati Highway Police. His body had multiple injury marks.

Rab said it launched an investigation immediately after the incident and intensified surveillance. Acting on a tip-off, the suspects were arrested from different areas of Cumilla yesterday.

The drives led to the recovery and seizure of weapons and vehicles used in the murder — a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, a machete, a hammer and other items allegedly used in the killing.

During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees said they were members of an organised crime gang that mainly targets long-distance passengers, luring them into CNG-run auto-rickshaws before robbing them at knifepoint.

The vehicle belonged to the gang, and the driver, along with three others inside, were professional criminals, Rab said.

Rab further said the gang attempted to take the victim to a secluded location. When they tried to snatch his bag and mobile phone, he resisted.

During a scuffle, the attackers threw him from the moving vehicle onto the footpath beside Irish Hill Hotel in Kotbari, causing severe head injuries. He died on the spot due to excessive bleeding.

Rab also said the arrestees have multiple cases filed against them at different police stations, including theft, robbery and drug-related offences.

Bullet Bairagi served as an assistant revenue officer at the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate in Cumilla’s Bibir Bazar Land Port.

A murder case has been filed with Cumilla Sadar South Model Police Station by the victim’s mother, Nilima Bairagi, against unidentified individuals.