Panchlaish police arrested Bipin Dey, 25, Babul Barua, 26, Amzad Hossain, 20, and Abul Kashem, 19, from Chittagong Medical College, Chawk Bazar and Sholoshahar on Thursday night.

The cops are interrogating them at Panchlaish Police Station after the suspects were placed on a four-day remand yesterday.

"We have started quizzing the suspects, but can't say anything offhand before the investigation is complete," said investigation officer (IO) of the case Sub-inspector Atiqur Rahman.

He said, "We have nabbed the four as they were booked for mugging and committing robberies in and around Panchlaish."

The police are, however, yet to identify the motive behind the attack. They believe it was something more than an attempt to rob the government official's house, sources said.

Meantime, Kuddus suspects at least one, if not more, of the four assailants was acquainted with his house. The four, who did not rob anything, were in masks and did not utter a word during the attack, he explained.

The health of Golam Kuddus marked some improvement yesterday and he received phone calls from his colleagues and well-wishers enquiring about

him.

The attack has created a sense of fear and resentment among the government high officials. About 30 high officials including two secretaries called Kuddus from Dhaka yesterday to enquire about his health.

Earlier on Thursday, four masked assailants broke into his Panchlaish government quarters and stabbed him indiscriminately at around 3:30am.

Kuddus, also district and sessions judge of the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban, served as the returning officer of the May 9 Chittagong mayoral election.