Case sees first arrest in five months

After five months of investigation, police arrested a former madrasa official on Saturday evening as prime suspect for the murder of Chittagong Nursing College teacher Anjali Devi.

The investigator did not find any link of personal, family or professional feud to the killing and now suspects that militants were behind it.

Anjali's family has always accused extremists.

Four masked men hacked the 57-year-old to death in Chittagong city's Chawkbazar on January 10, and four anonymous people were sued the same day.

"We had said the attack on my wife was similar to those on Prof Humayun Azad and blogger Rajib and others; so we demanded police turn their attention to militants," Anjali's husband Dr Rajendra Chowdhury told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said, "An unknown person asked me over the phone on January 31 not to proceed with the case, and threatened to kill me like my wife was killed, if I did."

The Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police arrested Md Reja, 50, a former land affairs officer of Al-Jamia Al-Islamiah in Patiya upazila, at GEC intersection of the port city. In 2012, he had sent a legal notice to Anjali terming her "anti-Islamic".

Dr Rajendra said the arrest rekindled the family's hope for getting justice.

Reja was remanded for five days yesterday.

The investigator, Inspector Keshab Chakrabarty of DB, said that during the investigation, they learned a madrasa official had sent a legal notice to Anjali in 2012, a few days after some students of the nursing college demonstrated demanding permission to wear the hijab (headscarf). The demand was not accepted on security grounds.

In his legal notice, Reja said Anjali made anti-Islamic comments in the classroom, an allegation she had denied.

Inspector Keshab said, "We talked to students, teachers and staff of Chittagong Nursing College and everyone told us that the allegation was false."

He said the attacks on Anjali, Prof Humayun Azad and bloggers Rajib Haider, Avijit Roy, and Ananta Bijoy were alike.