An official said after arrest of the suspect from Bagerhat
The seven crew members of MV Al Bakhera were brutally murdered by a fellow, Akash Mondal Irfan, out of frustration over unpaid wages and months of mistreatment, a Rab official said today.
"The accused sedated the victims using sleeping pills and then stabbed them to death," Lt Col Munim Ferdous, director of Rab's legal and media wing, told The Daily Star following the arrest of the suspect, from Bagerhat early today.
Investigators disclosed that Akash purchased three blister packs of sleeping pills from a market in Pabna while procuring supplies for the launch.
The sedatives were used to incapacitate the victims before the murders were committed with a Chinese axe, which was kept onboard as part of the vessel's safety equipment, the Rab official said.
Rab will hold a press briefing later in the day.
The seven crew members were stabbed to death in a brutal attack aboard a bulk carrier in the Meghna in Chandpur early Monday.
The vessel laden with fertiliser had run aground in Haimchar area.
Responding to a 999 call, a team of river police went to the vessel around 3:00pm on Monday and recovered five bodies from crew quarters, Superintendent of Chandpur River Police Md Mushfiqur Rahman said that day.
Lone survivor Jewel Rana, 23, of Faridpur, was transferred to Dhaka for better medical care. His throat was slit.
Source: the daily star