Seven Murders of the Narayanganj

Last updated

Seven Murders of the Narayanganj was the enforced disappearance and murder of seven people in Bangladesh, including a Panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation and a lawyer in April 2014. [1] [2] 27 Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members, including three top RAB 11 officials, were involved in the abduction and killing. [3]

Contents

History

Nazrul Islam, a panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation who was in good terms with Mayor Dr. Selina Hayat Ivy, with three associates and his driver went missing from Fatullah area of Narayanganj on 27 April 2014. His lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker who was following the car of Nazrul Islam, also went missing on the same day with his driver from the same place. Within one week of the event, the dead bodies of the victims were seen floating on the Shitalakshya River on which the Narayanganj District stands on. [4] Two cases were filed in connection with the murders. Nazrul's wife Selina Islam Beauty filed a case against six people, including vice-president of Siddhirganj Awami League and Councillor [5] Nur Hossain, while Chandan's son-in-law Bijoy Kumar Paul filed the other case against Nazmul Haque partner of an engineering firm and some unknown people. Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam alleged that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel abducted and killed Nazrul in exchange for Tk 60 million from local ward councillor Nur Hossain. [6]

Investigation

Several probe committees were formed by the government, Police and RAB. CID was given the charge to investigate the case as per the directive of the High Court while the government assigned Detective Branch of Police with the task. On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court after hearing a petition of attorney general exempted CID from the investigation. [7] More than a year later, on 4 June 2015, the High Court directed RAB, the government's seven-member probe committee, the inspector general of police and the CID to submit progress reports on their investigations. [2] RAB found 21 of its members including three top officials of RAB-11 unit involved in the incident. [8] The RAB personnel are: Hamidul Haque, Hira Miah, Belal Hossain, Abu Tayab, and Arif Hossain, all of whom are the members of RAB 11.

The three top official of RAB 11 unit Lt Colonel Tareque Sayeed, Lt Commander Masud Rana and Major Arif Hossain made confessions of their involvement in the case. [9] [10] All the three top officials of RAB, including Tareque Sayeed, who is the son-in-law of Food and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury were sent to forced retirement by the military forces of the country. [8] Shahidul claimed some labourers saw RAB men and Nur Hossain, Nazmul Haque and some more civil abduct Nazrul near Shibu Market in Narayanganj on 27 April. Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the case who fled to India after the murders took place, was arrested in Kolkata on 14 June 2015. And the other one (Nazmul Haque) is missing after November 2014 in the same place in India. On 12 November 2015, the Indian government handed over Nur Hossain to Bangladesh. [2]

Trial and Verdict

After years of investigation, the Detective Branch of Police pressed a charge sheet against 35 people on 8 April 2015. [11] On 8 February, after a number of hearings, the Narayanganj court indicted all the 35 names of the charge sheet for the seven murder incident. [12] The formal trial of the case in Narayanganj began on 29 February 2016 and the process is ongoing. [13] On 16 January 2017, a Narayanganj court awarded death penalty to 26 people including former Awami League leader Nur Hossain and 16 ex-RAB officials including Tareque Sayeed, Arif Hossain, and Masud Rana in the seven-murder case. Nine other associates of Nur Hossain and ex-RAB members were also sentenced to different terms in the verdict. [14] The judge on his verdict, said that the charges of abduction, murder, concealing the bodies, conspiracy and destroying evidences were proved beyond any doubt. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapid Action Battalion</span> Elite Bangladeshi Police Unit

Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Border Guard Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Ansar. It was formed on 26 March 2004 as RAT, and commenced operations on 14 April 2004. From 2004 to 2008 RAB had killed 1,062 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Bangladesh</span> History and overview of filmmaking in Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi Cinema, better known as Dhallywood, is the Bengali-language film industry based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It has often been a significant film industry since the early 1970s. The dominant style of Bangladeshi cinema is melodramatic cinema, which developed from 1947 to 1990 and characterizes most films to this day. Cinema was introduced in Bangladesh in 1898 by the Bradford Bioscope Company, credited to have arranged the first film release in Bangladesh. Between 1913 and 1914, the first production company, Picture House, was opened. A 1928 short silent film titled Sukumari was the first Bengali-produced film in the region. The first full-length film, The Last Kiss, was released in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh</span> Highest court of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate Division. It consists of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh and the Judges of the High Court Division.

Jail Killing Day is observed by the Awami League (AL) of Bangladesh and many other political organisations on 3 November every year. It commemorates the killing of four Awami League and national leaders: former Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed and Captain (Rtd.) Mansur Ali, and former Home Minister A H M Quamruzzaman on this date in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jubo League</span> Political party in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Awami Jubo League commonly known as the Jubo League, is the first youth organization of Bangladesh founded by Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani. It is the youth wing of Bangladesh Awami League. Jubo league's current chairman is Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash and General Secretary is Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Bangladesh</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Bangladesh has been a continuing problem. According to all major ranking institutions, Bangladesh routinely finds itself among the most corrupt countries in the world.

<i>Runway</i> (2010 film) 2010 Bangladeshi film

Runway is a 2010 Bangladeshi drama film directed by Tareque Masud with his wife Catherine Masud. It was his last feature film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enforced disappearances in Bangladesh</span> Human rights abuse

Enforced disappearances in Bangladesh are cases in which the Government of Bangladesh directly or indirectly kidnaps people and holds them incommunicado. According to a Dhaka-based human rights group Odhikar, at least 402 people have become victim of enforced disappearance from 2009 to 2017 under the current Awami League administration. These incidents along with extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh has been criticized by The United Nations and human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a special paramilitary unit in Bangladesh, is alleged to be behind most of these disappearances even though RAB claimed these allegations to be false. The current Awami League government denies involvement in these forced disappearances even when victims later surface in custody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury</span> Bangladeshi politician

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya is a senior Bangladesh Awami League politician who served as a Member of parliament from Chandpur-2 constituency and a minister of several ministries. In 19 November 2021 he nominated for Bangladesh Awami League Presidium member. He received the Bir Bikram, the third highest award for gallantry, for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the general secretary for the Dhaka chapter of his party until 2016. He won the Independence Award in 2023 for his contribution to the field of independence and liberation war.

Ziaul Ahsan is a 2 Star rank Bangladesh Army officer. He is an incumbent Director General of National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC). He previously served as additional director general (ADG) of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). While he was serving as the additional director general of RAB, he was transferred as the DDG of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). Later, he was attached to NSI as the director.

Lieutenant Colonel (Dismissed) Tareque Sayeed Mohammad is a former Bangladeshi Army officer who was convicted in the Narayanganj Seven murder case. He was the commanding officer of Bangladesh elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-11. He is the Son in Law of former minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury.

Saiful Islam Hiru is a Bangladeshi politician from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a former Member of Parliament.

Cadet Pollen murder refers to the murder of Cadet Sharmila Shaharin Pollen in Mymensingh Girls' Cadet College in 2005. The college authorities attempted to cover up her murder and make it look like a suicide.

Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan is a Bangladesh Army Colonel and the Sector Commander of Border Guards Bangladesh in Rajshahi. He is the former Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) an elite multi-service unit of the Bangladesh Police and oversaw crackdowns on Islamist militants. He has been sanctioned by the United States for his activities in RAB. He had previously commanded RAB-5, RAB-7, and RAB-11.

Md. Moinul Islam Chowdhury is a Judge of the High Court Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court.

2023 (MMXXIII) is the current year, and is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2023rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 23rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2020s decade.

References

  1. ↑ "Murdered brutally, dumped into river". The Daily Star . 1 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Five cops testify in seven-murder case". Dhaka Tribune . 16 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Narayanganj seven-murder verdict due Jan 16". Dhaka Tribune. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Shitalakkhya: River of the floating dead". The Daily Star . 3 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nur Hossain: From trucker's helper to mafia don". The Daily Star. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "A Chandpur MP's son brokered it". The Daily Star . 6 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Only DB to investigate 7-murder". The Daily Star . 4 November 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Rab finds 21 of its men involved". The Daily Star . 10 December 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Confession, finally". The Daily Star . 19 June 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Maj Arif makes confession". The Daily Star . 5 June 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "RAB's Tareq among 35 charged with Narayanganj seven murders". Dhaka Tribune . 9 April 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. ↑ "35 indicted in Narayanganj 7-murder cases". The Daily Star . 8 February 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Formal trial begins". The Independent. Dhaka. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Ex-AL men, Ex-RAB officials among 26 handed death penalty". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "Former RAB man blames ex-commander for consequences after conviction for seven murders". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.