7 murdered on cargo vessel: Arrested Irfan remanded for 7 days

A court in Chandpur on Wednesday placed Akash Mondal alias Irfan on a seven-day remand in connection with the murders of seven people on board fertilizer-laden vessel MV Al-Bakhera on the Meghna River near Eshanbala Char in Chandpur's Haimchar upazila.

Chandpur Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Farhan Sadiq granted the remand after Inspector Mohammad Kalam Khan of the River Police, the investigating officer, presented Irfan before the court and pleaded for a 10-day remand.

Advocates Sharif Mahmud Sayem, Masud Pradhaniya, Yasin Arafat Ikram, and Md Shahjahan Khan represented the state during the hearing. However, no lawyer was present to represent the accused.

Earlier, a team of RAB-11 arrested Irfan from Bagerhat's Chitalmari area on Tuesday night over the murders.

On Monday afternoon, the Coast Guard and River Police recovered five bodies and rescued three injured victims from the cargo vessel. Later, two of them succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
The bodies were handed over to families after completing legal procedures on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday night, a case was filed at Haimchar Police Station following a complaint lodged by the vessel owner Mahbub Morshed. 

A separate investigation committee has been formed by the Ministry of Industries, the district administration, and the district police to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, family members of the victims claimed that the killings were planned and demanded justice.