Police: Bashundhara MD not linked to Munia’s death

Police have found no involvement of Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir in the death of college student Mosarat Jahan Munia.

The final probe report exonerating the business tycoon was submitted to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Monday. The court is set to decide on the matter on July 29, according to court sources.

Sayem was sued on charges of abetting the suicide of Munia, an HSC second-year student at Mirpur Cantonment Public School and College.

Munia's elder sister Nusrat Jahan, the complainant of the case, told media that they would file a no-confidence petition against the probe report. 

Police previously told reporters that Sayem had been seen entering and leaving the Gulshan flat, where the 21-year-old started living alone in March. The duo had allegedly been in a secret relationship for the last two years.

Also Read - ‘Munia’s diaries are the most important evidence’

Sayem is the son of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, the chairman of Bashundhara, one of the largest business groups in Bangladesh.

Munia’s sister discovered Munia’s hanging body from her apartment on the evening of April 26 and informed the police.

According to police, Sayem was last seen entering and leaving the flat on April 20. 

Munia was seen in the CCTV camera footage for the last time on the night of April 25, while entering the flat. She did not leave the flat on the day of the incident, they said.

On April 27, a Dhaka court imposed a travel ban on Sayem after Gulshan police OC Abul Hassan moved a petition.

On April 28, Sayem filed a petition with the High Court, seeking anticipatory bail in the case. 

The High Court on April 29 declined to hear the petition. The same day Sayem's wife and four other members of his family left the country on a chartered flight. 

Also Read - Bashundhara MD’s wife, family members leave Bangladesh on chartered flight

Police earlier said that they had recovered six handwritten diaries from Munia’s flat. 

The college student had written about social recognition of her relationship, her expectations about conjugal life, obstacles, and distance with her partner, as well as his family problems.

DMP Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan) Sudip Kumar Chakroborty on April 28 said: “Overwhelmed by despair, she was in severe distress. There is evidence of mental upheaval in the pages of the diary. She may have taken the difficult decision of committing suicide in the face of emotional turmoil.”

On May 2, Munia's sister lodged the general diary with Kotwali police station in Comilla, alleging that she had been threatened over the phone. 

The same day, Munia’s brother Ashikur Rahman Sabuj moved the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court accusing Sharun, the son of whip Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury, of her sister’s death.

Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan accepted the petition but said that any proceedings over it would remain suspended as the probe into the case of abetment to suicide was ongoing.