At the time of the abduction, Shamim and Nur were hanging out at the local Rifles Club
Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the sensational abduction and murder of Nazrul in Narayanganj, has suddenly fallen out of grace of Shamim Osman who is often called the “godfather” and linked with virtually every major crime in the port city.
Narayanganj city ward Councillor Nur Hossain has always been known as a close associate of Shamim, a local lawmaker. Both of them have been diligently involved with the politics of the ruling Awami League in Narayanganj.
Soon after Nazrul Islam, another city councillor, was abducted on April 27, his wife Selina went straight to Shamim, who has a lot of influence in the city. Shamim reportedly told Selina that he did not believe that Nur could have abducted Nazrul.
According to city residents, even at the time of the abduction, Shamim and Nur were hanging out at the local Rifles Club.
However, after the recovery of Nazrul’s dead body from the Shitalakhya River that flows beside the city, Shamim took an about turn. He said Nur was the criminal behind the abduction and that he should be brought to justice.
“It is true that Nur was my political associate. But I could never imagine that he could be such a ferocious killer, who could kill Nazrul,” Shamim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
According to Selina, sensing danger days before the abduction, Nazrul, who was also involved with the Awami League’s politics, informed a number of leaders of the party including the junior home minister that he was feeling insecure.
On April 27, he went to Narayanganj to attend a courtroom session in a case filed by Nur Hossain.
According to local people and sources from the law enforcement agencies, Nur was involved with all kinds of criminal activities in Siddhirganj in Narayanganj, including illegal stone and sand business, extorting transport businesses, encroaching upon Shitalakhya River, drug trade, and so on.
Nur is also accused in a total of 22 cases including six murder cases filed with the Siddhirganj and Fatulla police stations.
A few years back, Interpol issued a warrant for Nur’s arrest but the local district administration, RAB and police did not take any step.
Local residents said nobody dared touch him because he used to call himself the “closest associate” of Shamim Osman. Allegedly, Nur used to give a lot of money to Shamim. In return, Shamim kept Nur close to him everywhere he went – rallies, processions and even arbitrations.
A local political leader claimed that Nur had recently become more trustworthy to Shamim than Nazrul, who was also known to be in Shamim’s good books. He said Nazrul started losing Shamim’s favour after he attended a victory day rally with Narayanganj city Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy.
Ivy is considered Shamim’s political rival. In the 2011 city corporation polls, Shamim lost to Ivy in Narayanganj.
On April 18, Nur, along with a huge number of supporters, joined Shamim in an Awami League rally, which Nazrul did not attend.
Nazrul’s relatives said Nur took advantage of this and thought that Shamim would save him no matter what he did. Even the local administration and law enforcers would not be brave enough to do anything to him because he paid them a lot of money.
Nur’s history
Nur Hossain, who used to be the helper of a truck driver, joined the BNP in 1992. In 1996, he got tied with Shamim Osman after the Awami League came to power.
When Shamim fled the country after the 2001 national election in which the Awami League lost by a huge margin, Nur also left Narayanganj. During the 2007-2008 tenure of the army-backed caretaker government, Nur was a top listed criminal.
After the Awami League won back people’s mandate in 2008, both he and Shamim returned to Narayanganj. Nur took part in the 2011 city corporation poll and became the councillor of ward number four. Before the poll, the Election Commission asked the local administration to take measures against him but nothing happened.
Later, he became the vice-president of the Siddhirganj unit of the Awami League. Even yesterday, many posters, containing pictures of both Shamim and Nur, could be seen in the city.
Nur vs Nazrul
Although both Nur and Nazrul were close aides of Shamim Osman, they had conflicts surrounding many issues.
The latest of the feuds was centring the work order for the construction of a road in Mijimiji area. Nur, who was heard openly declaring that he would kill Nazrul, even filed a case against him and 17 of his associates. After that, Nazrul started living in Dhaka.
During a conversation with the Dhaka Tribune recently, Shamim said Nazrul had come to him a few days ago and said someone had been trying to kill him. Shamim claimed to have called up the state minister for home to look into the issue.
“The last time he came to me was before going to the court. I told him not to go there alone. I thought five-six bodyguards could have saved him. But he could not survive,” Shamim said.
Asked why then he took Nur’s side in the first place, Shamim said: “I thought Nur could not kill him. At best they could have quarrelled if they had any enmity.
“After Nazrul’s wife accused Nur of the abduction, I called up Nur. But he refused the allegations,” he said.
When asked about his change of stance, Shamim claimed that he learnt from a voice clip that Nur and Mayor Ivy’s son Sufian together planned to kill Nazrul.
The last hope
Although Shamim Osman did not do anything to save her husband despite her request, Nazrul’s wife Selina Akhter said Shamim was her last hope for getting justice.
“I need justice first. There is no other place to go other than Osman,” she said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune