In an inexplicable development in the police force, Rangpurโs Hazirhat police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdullah Al Mamun planned the storyline of a high-profile murder case under the instruction of the higher authorities, wrote it on behalf of the victimโs family, and then registered it.
The case accuses 54 leaders and activists of the Awami League, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. He also named some local leaders of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Then the OC investigated the case, and after 16 days, arrested the 54th accusedโMahmudul Haque, an assistant professor at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpurโfrom his flat in the cityโs Dhap area around 3:30pm on June 19.
The same day, OC Abdullah produced the arrestee before the Rangpur Additional Chief Judicial Magistrateโs Court of Shoyebur Rahman and prayed that he be kept in jail under further investigation. Having accepted the plea, the magistrate ordered the professor to jail.
Amena Begum, the victimโs wife and plaintiff in the case, said that on August 2 last year, grocer Somechh Uddin tried to flee his shop in the Radha Krishnapur area after seeing a police team. The police were looking for a local Jamaat leader.
After some time, he fell on the road and lost consciousness. Relatives and locals rushed him to Prime Medical College Hospital, but only to have him declared dead.
Duty doctors said he had a heart attack; neither the first accusedโSheikh Hasinaโnor the 54th accused, Mahmudul Haque, who teaches at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, killed Somechh Uddin.
The 52 other accused are leaders and activists of the Awami League, BNP, and Jamaat, and ordinary people of the area.
Prof Mahmudul is known as an outspoken person who earlier worked for the UNDP and The Daily Star newspaper.
According to the Awami League, there are over 400 murder cases against Sheikh Hasina and a record of 80,000 cases against over 5,00,000 Awami League leaders and activists across the country. Many of these cases are flawed, and were registered without proper assessment.
Currently, over 140,000 members of the Awami League, including 101 former parliamentarians, are languishing in jail.
In addition to the flawed cases, government-backed mobs have killed several hundred leaders and activists of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and its other affiliated organisations in targeted attacks since July.
In addition to these fatalities, mobs have claimed the lives of another 172 people, mostly by labelling them as Awami League activists or supporters, in the last 10 months. Another 27 Awami League leaders and activists were killed under police custody or in prisons during the same time.
Falsehood exposed
When questioned about her decision to file a murder case, a helpless Amena claimed she was unaware of the contents of the FIR. She just gave her signature when asked by the OC. She also does not know the accused.
Rangpur-based senior journalist Liakat Ali Badal debunked the false case and has stirred a debate since the news was published on Bangla Tribune and the Daily Sangbad on June 19.
Mahmudulโs wife, Masuba Hassan Moon, sought cooperation from students, journalists, and well-wishers, saying that it is a false case crafted in a planned way.
The OC refused to comment when asked about the investigation, autopsy of the victim, and harassment of the university professor and suggested that the journalist speak to the higher authorities.
The OCโs version of the death of Somechh Uddin reads: on August 2, 2024, members of the then police, the administration, Awami League, and affiliated organisations came to threaten the grocer at his shop in the Radha Krishnapur area of โโWard No. 12 of the city. At one point, the leaders and activists of the affiliated organisation of the Awami League hit him with weapons and made him bleed. When he fell unconscious on the ground, the police and the accused fled the scene. Later, family members rescued Somechh Uddin and took him to the hospital, where the doctor declared him dead.
Locals said a police team went there to arrest the Ward Unit Jamaat chief, Hazi Nasir Uddin, from his house, but he fled the scene.
Being panicked by the policeโs presence, Somechh Uddin went out of the shop and started running but collapsed on the road.
Both Hazi Nasir Uddin and the victimโs son, Ashikur Rahman, said that Somechh Uddin died of a heart attack.
โPolice did not come to arrest Somechh Uddin. They came for me. Several innocent people have been accused in this murder case,โ the Jamaat leader added.
The imam of the local mosque who performed the namaz-e-janaza, Mominul Islam, said that he had not seen any injury marks on the body.
Rangpur metropolitan unit BNP convener Shamsuzzaman Samu condemned the filing of the murder case, accusing BNP leaders and ordinary people in the area.
โWhere is the autopsy report? Why are the police not exhuming the body? This case should be investigated properly,โ he added.
Ward No. 28 BNP President Alamgir Hossain said: “I went to Hazirhat police station and asked the OC how the story of killing a person who died of a heart attack was fabricated. He could not give any favourable answer. They are using the murder case to extort money from innocent people.”
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