Detectives yesterday pressed charges against 21 Chhatra League activists for their alleged involvement in the Bishwajit murder.
Bishwajit Das, 24, proprietor of Amontran Tailors at Shakhari Bazar in Old Dhaka, was killed during a road blockade programme of the BNP-led 18-party alliance December 9 last year.
Seven of the 21 are now behind bars and the rest are on the run.
The arrested are Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, AHM Kibria, Quiyum Miah Tipu, GM Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Saiful Islam, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam alias Shakil and Emdadul Haque Emdad.
Shakil, Nahid, Shaon and Emdad have already made confessional statements and disclosed several names.
The fugitives are Md Alauddin, Obaidul Quader Tahsin, Imran Hossain alias Imran, Rajon Talukder, Khondoker Md Yunus Ali, Tarique Bin Zohor alias Tamal, Azizur Rahman, Noor-e-Alam Limon, Al Amin Sheikh, Monirul Haque Pavel, Golam Mostafa, Mosharraf Hossain, Kamrul Hasan and Rafiqul Islam.
DB Inspector Tajul Islam, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka around noon yesterday.
Tajul said at least three of the 14 fugitives had left the country while the rest 11 are traceless and not using any mobile phones.
Talking to The Daily Star, Uttam Das, elder brother of Bishwajit, expressed satisfaction over the charge sheet. However, he demanded immediate arrest of the fugitives.
According to the charge sheet and confessional statements of the arrested four, Bishwajit was hacked by Rajon with machete and stabbed by Shakil with a sharp weapon.
Besides, Yunus, Imran, Tamal, Alauddin, Mostafa, Tipu, Kibria, Emdad, Nahid, Shaon, Aziz, Limon, Al Amin, Rafique, Pavel, Kamrul Hassan and Mosharraf beat up the youth with iron rods.
All the accused were students of Jagannath University.
After the incident, Azizur, Rafiqul, Kibria, Shakil, Limon, Obhidul, Rajon, Saiful, Shaon, Tipu were expelled from the university while certificates of Younus, Nahid and Emdadul were cancelled as par proctorial rules.
Meanwhile, the investigation officer of the case dropped the names of four other arrestees finding no proofs of their link with the incident.
Tajul Islam appealed to the court to relieve the four — Mamun-Ur-Rashid, Faruque Hossain, Moslehuddin alias Moslem and Kazi Nahiduzzaman Tuhin — of the charges.
The IO made 41 persons prosecution witnesses. He also appealed to the court to issue arrest warrant against the fugitives and confiscate their properties.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mostafizur Rahman fixed March 20 for hearing on acceptance of the charge sheet.
The IO said he had arrested eleven accused after watching video footages and other circumstantial evidence. He also identified names and addresses of fugitives from the Jagannath University authorities.
THE KILLING
In the morning of December 9, a number of cocktails exploded in front of Bahadur Shah Park as the opposition 18-party alliance enforced a road blockade programme.
Hearing the sound, Chhatra League men of Jagannath University unit rushed to the spot and chased some people.
At one stage, they caught Bishwajit, who was passing through the area, and swooped on him.
The youth, who had nothing to do with the political programme, was bled to death at Mitford Hospital.
Source: The Daily Star
