RIYADH: Early legal action will be taken against the four alleged killers apprehended last week for the slaying of Saudi Embassy official Khalaf Al-Ali in Dhaka, Bangladesh Ambassador Mohamed Shahidul Islam told Arab News yesterday.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal confirmed the arrest of the suspected killers in a statement made to the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.
"Detectives have arrested the four robbery suspects who confessed to the killing of the Saudi embassy official Khalaf Al-Ali," Ambassador Islam said, adding that the robbers had confessed to the killing but that they had no intention to murder Al-Ali. The suspects wanted to snatch away valuables from Al-Ali. But a bullet struck the diplomat as he started to scuffle with them, the envoy said quoting a police statement from Dhaka. "During scuffle, the pistol went off and the bullet hit him.”
The 45-year-old diplomat, who joined Saudi Embassy in Dhaka about two years ago, lived in a rented apartment in the city's Gulshan area and used to walk the street or take a bicycle ride almost every night.
The murder suspects were arrested along with a .22 bore pistol. The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed that the bullet that killed Al-Ali was fired from the same .22 bore pistol.
The ambassador said the police have also taken a vehicle into their custody, which was believed to have been used by the suspects. “Investigations will be completed soon and the suspects produced before a competent court for necessary punishment for their crime,” Islam said.
In Dhaka, Mollah Nazrul Islam, deputy commissioner of Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police is currently handling the case. “The Bangladesh government and the expatriates living in the Kingdom are very happy that the criminals, who were involved in the murder were arrested without loss of time,” the ambassador said, pointing out that this was first such murder that occurred in Bangladesh.
“We felt sorry about the tragedy, even our Foreign Minister Dipu Moni visited the Kingdom to convey the condolences and her country's sentiments on behalf of her government on the death of the Saudi official,” Islam said.
“The bonds of friendship is characterized by mutual understanding and fraternity between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia and we attach great importance to relations with Saudi Arabia,” the ambassador said.
