Finally, Nur Hossain under spotlight

About 20 kilometres from the capital the port city of Narayanganj, a major industrial and commercial hub near Dhaka, often grabs the spotlight because of the recurrence of abductions and murders to establish political supremacy.

In most cases, horrendous murders are committed as a result of fight between families having longstanding involvement in politics.

The local administration very often feels like being hostage to the political clouts of those leaders and their local thugs.

No families other than Shamim Osman’s and Ivy’s with their longstanding political background with the Awami League have ruled the roost in Narayanganj generation after generation.

But in very recent times, especially after the chilling abduction and murder of seven people, including Narayanganj City Corporation Councillor Nazrul Islam and lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker, another name has popped up in the political scenario in the city.

His name has taken the centre stage for his alleged involvement in the abduction and murder of those seven people and wielding immense political and muscle power but has so far remained untouched.

The man is none other than Nur Hossain, 50, whose rags-to-riches story is now being widely discussed in Narayanganj. Locals say hardly any major crime could be committed in which Nur Hossain had no hand.

Even some police officials acknowledged the fact of his infamy. Nazrul brutally killed after the abduction on April 27 had a longstanding political and business rivalry with Nur Hossain.

Nazrul’s wife Selina Islam and his father-in-law Shahidul Islam pointed fingers at Nur Hossain. Nur is the prime accused in the cases filed by them against six persons on April 28 in connection with the seven murders.

Nur Hossain is absconding now, but he managed to stay in Narayanganj as usual till April 29, the day the seven bodies were recovered from the Shitalakkhya River.

“Probably he thought he would be safe as it is an open secret that he has people at the higher level of the state let alone Narayanganj,” said a person who is actively involved in the Awami League politics.

“Nur Hossain has his own men in the local administration who definitely advised him to leave Narayanganj as this time it might not be possible for him to remain untouched.”

Soon after he fled Narayanganj, the local authorities started moving, saying how powerful man he was and how he ran his illegal business, extort money and so on.

Nur Hossain, became a millionaire, was once helper of goods-carrying truck, said many of the locals and politicians of Narayanganj.

Once he was involved in the politics of the Jatiya Party before he became loyal to the ideology of the BNP. After that he joined the Awami League in 2000. He is now the senior vice-president of Siddhirganj Thana Awami League.

He built an organised crime world in Siddhirganj area where no one dared to say anything, this is the perception of most of the residents in Narayanganj who the Dhaka Tribune talked to.

For the last many years Nur has controlled the trade of sand and stone chips along the bank of the Shitalakkhya River. Locals call it in Bangla “Balu Mahal” (open air sand depot). Such sand depots are a source of earning of millions of taka per month.

In the name of sand and stone chips trade near the riverbank, Nur has gradually encroached upon the Shitalakkhya River, say locals.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority launched an eviction drive in the area of ‘Balu Mahal’ in Siddhirganj from May 2 which will conclude today.

Md Zahirul Islam, assistant coordination officer of the BIWTA, yesterday afternoon was overseeing the eviction drive.

When a Dhaka Tribune correspondent approached, he said in Siddhirganj area they had found 40 to 45 small illegal shacks on about 2-kilometre long Balu Mahal of Nur Hossain and their men demolished those weak structures.

BIWTA official Zahirul claimed that the eviction drive didn’t have any link with the seven murders and the alleged involvement of Nur Hossain with it, rather it was planned before the April 27 abduction incident.

He said: “As he had longstanding influence over here, we had to face obstruction from him when we tried to demolish his structures.”

“So, we had to negotiate with him before we came here to carry out any eviction drive, but now we can do it without any obstruction as he went into hiding,” he said.

Many locals said Nur had been gradually grabbing the Shitalakkhya River over the last five to seven years. Now they believe that if Nur Hossain did not come back, the river could be saved.

Nur has set up a 4800 square feet jatra pandel (jatra is a traditional local form of drama) one and a half years back at the truck stand of Shimrail in Siddhirganj.

He earned notoriety by setting up the jatra pandel that eventually became a place for unsocial activities, but no one ever dared to protest it. He earned millions of taka every day from the pandel, said a local wishing not to be named as he feared reprisal from the men of Nur. Yesterday the pandel was removed.

Ejajul Hossain Rudro, owner of the decorating company that set up the pandel said he used to get Tk10,000 per day from the organisers but over the last six months this amount came down to Tk3,000.

Locals also talked about Nur’s involvement in the drug dealing in the area.

Though many people are now raising their voice against the criminal activities of Nur, they still fear backlash after his return.

A government officer in Narayanganj who has been assigned to look into the illegal business and his criminal activities told these correspondents: “Pray for me lest I should be abducted and murdered.”