In a tragic escalation of Bangladesh’s ongoing crisis of custodial deaths, Tariq Rifat, a 50-year-old prominent Awami League leader from Gaibandha district, died in prison custody just hours after being remanded following a rearrest.
Rifat’s death on November 23 marks the latest in a string of suspicious fatalities targeting Awami League affiliates under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, raising fresh alarms about systemic medical neglect, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial risks.
This report translates and details the incident based on local media coverage while providing context on the broader pattern of custodial killings. Drawing from human rights reports, Awami League documentation, and independent investigations, at least 34 Awami League leaders and activists have died in custody since August 2024, amid over 528 targeted murders of party members.
These deaths are often linked to fabricated charges from the Sheikh Hasina era, revived to justify arrests, torture, and denial of careโechoing a “jungle rule” where political persecution trumps due process.
A Rapid Descent into Custody and Death
Tariq Rifat, son of former union chairman Abu Taher BSS from Pubhuram village in Rajahar Union (Gobindaganj Upazila), served as finance secretary of the local Awami League unit and chairman of the Gobindaganj Upazila Awami Muktijoddha Projonmo League (a youth wing for freedom fighters’ descendants). Beyond politics, Rifat was a respected entrepreneur known for successful pond fish farming and community organizing. He contested the Union Parishad chairmanship in the December 26, 2021, elections and enjoyed cross-party popularity for his development initiatives.
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Rifat’s ordeal began on October 19, 2025, when he was arrested on multiple cases dating back to before August 5, 2024 (the eve of Hasina’s ouster). These included allegations of attacks in Fulpukuria, vandalism and arson at a BNP office, attempted murder of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, and violations under the Explosives Act. He was named in two FIRs as a prime accused.
On November 17, Rifat was granted bail and released from Gaibandha Jail. However, the same night, Gobindaganj Thana police rearrested him without fresh charges or court orders, a tactic critics describe as “yo-yo arrests” to prolong harassment. Due to sudden illness, he was admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for treatment. Discharged on Saturday afternoon (November 22), he was brought to the Thana and remanded to court the next day.
On November 23, the Gobindaganj magistrate ordered Rifat remanded to Gaibandha Jail. He arrived around 4:00 PM. Within minutes, he collapsed, complaining of severe chest pain. Prison staff rushed him to Gaibandha Sadar Hospital at 4:20 PM, but the emergency doctor declared him dead on arrival at 4:35 PM, stating he had expired en route.
Jail Superintendent Md. Atikur Rahman confirmed Rifat had recently undergone cardiac stent placement and was in frail health. The body was sent for autopsy at the hospital morgue; post-mortem results are pending, after which it will be released to relatives following legal formalities. Gobindaganj Thana OC Bulbul Islam defended the rearrest as “routine” but did not explain the immediate remand despite Rifat’s medical history.
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Local Awami League leaders decried the death as “premeditated neglect,” noting Rifat’s stable condition post-hospital discharge. “He was our bridge to the youthโpopular even among rivals. This is vengeance, not justice,” said a union colleague. Protests erupted in Gobindaganj, with Awami League supporters blocking roads and demanding an independent probe.
Jafar Hawlader and Murad Hossain (November 2025)
Rifat’s death follows closely on the heels of two other high-profile custodial fatalities exposed on November 20, underscoring a pattern of accelerated targeting amid the November 17 death sentence against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
– Jafar Hawlader, 55: Former Chairman of Borbighai Union Parishad and General Secretary of Patuakhali Sadar Awami League. Arrested November 12 in a revived 2022 vandalism case (despite not being named in the original FIR), Hawladerโknown for rural electrification and flood relief under Hasinaโwas beaten during transfer to Patuakhali District Jail. He collapsed in his cell on November 17 from respiratory distress linked to untreated injuries. Rushed to Patuakhali Medical College Hospital, he died at 2:18pm after delayed care. Relatives alleged a one-hour wait for “paperwork,” calling the autopsy a “whitewash.” Patuakhali Sadar OC Md. Imtiaz Ahmed claimed protocol was followed, but no independent observers were present. This marks the 32nd such death, sparking road blockades by Awami League supporters.
– Murad Hossain, 68: A 1971 Liberation War veteran (Muktijoddha) from Sector 2 and former Ward Councillor in Dhaka North City Corporation. Arrested in October 2025 on fabricated “sabotage” charges from July 2024 protests (alibi: attending a family wedding), he was held in Kashimpur High Security Jail 1โa known torture site. Chronic kidney issues worsened by poor rations and confiscated medications led to respiratory failure on November 18. Initial jail aid failed; transfer to Gazipurโs Tajuddin Ahmed Hospital was ordered, but a two-hour ambulance “breakdown” delayed him. Pronounced dead on arrival at Dhaka Medical College Hospital around noon, autopsy revealed untreated fractures from “falls.” Jail Superintendent Mamun Rashid blamed “various diseases,” omitting care denial. As a freedom fighter, his death revives 1971 traumas, with Awami League youth vowing an “uprising.”
Insiders link these to an alleged “Yunus Directive” to expedite high-profile detentions before the February 2026 elections, decapitating Awami League leadership.
A Trail of 50+ Custodial Deaths in 15 Months
Since Sheikh Hasina’s August 5, 2024, ouster and the Yunus interim government’s formation, custodial deaths have surged, targeting Awami League figures in what rights groups call a “systematic extermination” campaign. Awami League documentation lists 31 leaders and activists dead in judicial custody as of October 10, 2025, including former Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun (Dhaka Central Jail) and clusters in Bogra (four in one month), Tangail, Sylhet, Khulna, and Chittagong.
The Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) reports at least 21 Awami League custodial killings from August 2024 to April 2025, part of 123 targeted murders (41 “Taliban-style” hackings).
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Odhikar’s data shows 40 extrajudicial killings overall from August 2024 to September 2025 (three per month on average, rising to 11 in July-September 2025), with 14 from torture and seven from beatings in custody. While some victims span parties (e.g., BNP’s Asif Shikdar and Towhidul Islam), Awami League affiliates dominate, often rearrested on old charges post-bail, denied meds, and declared “natural deaths.”
Human Rights Watch and MSF highlight an “alarming rise,” with 70 extrajudicial/custodial deaths in 60 incidents by mid-2025, urging probes. The EUAA’s August 2025 Country of Origin report notes impunity persists, with RAB and police unreformed despite UN calls. Six international rights groups have pressed Yunus for protection, but arrests of ~500,000 Awami League members continue, fueling lynchings and pogroms.
This “bloodbath” buries Hasina’s secular legacy, with no accountabilityโechoing Hasina-era abuses but inverted against her party. As Rifat’s family awaits autopsy results, calls grow for UN intervention: “From red-alert militancy to political gravesโBangladesh’s prisons are now killing fields.”
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