Photo : BSS

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 26, 2025 (BSS) - Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in Chattogram finally unraveled the mystery behind the brutal killing of a pregnant housewife, Mahbuba Akter, after four years of investigation.

Mahbuba, 24, was strangled to death inside her residence in the city's EPZ area on the night of July 16, 2021, while she was performing her prayers.

According to PBI findings, her husband Md Abdul Gofran and mother-in-law Naznin Begum-who is also the victim's maternal aunt-masterminded the murder and hired a gang of killers for Tk 1.5 lakh to execute the crime.

After the killing, Gofran and his mother attempted to mislead police by fabricating a story of dacoity, investigators said.

PBI Superintendent of Police (Chattogram Metro Region) Md Ruhul Kabir Khan said the agency decided to launch a thorough probe into the case after suspecting foul play in the killing of the young housewife.

During the investigation, gang leader Mohammad Arif-who lived as a tenant on the third floor of a building owned by Naznin Begum-confessed before Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammed Mostafa, admitting his gang's involvement in the murder.

PBI sources said Mahbuba, who married Gofran in 2018 as his third wife, had long been subjected to mental and physical torture by her husband and mother-in-law. The killing was the culmination of a prolonged family feud.

Following the incident, Mahbuba's brother Md Mishkat filed a murder case with EPZ police station accusing Gofran and Naznin.