Narsingdi Mayor Killing
Minister Raju's brother, 13 others accused
Drama over recording family's case with Narsingdi police; Khokon is
not accused by the family
Salauddin Ahmed Bachchu, the younger brother of Posts and
Telecommunications Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, and 13 others were
implicated last night in the murder of Narsingdi mayor Lokman Hossain,
after a long drama over filing a case.
Kamruzzaman, immediate younger brother of the slain mayor, named
Bachchu as the main accused in the case filed with Narsingdi Model
Police Station.
But he did not include the name of Khairul Kabir Khokon, president of
BNP Narsingdi district unit, who was arrested from his residence near
Khilgaon Matir Masjid in the capital Wednesday around 2:50am, hours
after Lokman was shot to death.
According to the first information report (FIR), Bachchu and nine
other accused hatched the murder plot.
The nine are Abdul Matin, a former municipality chairman and former
vice-president of Narsingdi district Awami League; Mobarok Hossain
Moba, a leader of Narsingdi city AL; Montaz Uddin Bhuiyan, president
of Narsingdi city AL; Nurul Islam, Narsingdi city BNP general
secretary who is now in Malaysia; Monowar Hossain Khan alias Moeen, a
businessman; Hiron Mia, a Jatiya Party leader; Tareq Ahmed, a BNP
leader and former VP of Narsingdi Government College students' union;
Masudur Rahman Murad, assistant personal secretary of Rajiuddin Ahmed
Raju and also an AL leader; and Kabir Sircar, a top criminal listed by
Rab and also an AL leader.
And, the ten ordered the other four to kill Lokman.
The four accused are Ashraf Hossain Sarker, brother of AL leader Abdul
Matin Sarker; Mia Mohammad Manzur, an AL leader; Amir Hossain alias
Amu, a former Jatiya Party leader; and Mamun, son of late Manik Mia
who was a Jatiya Party leader.
In the FIR, Kamruzzaman briefly elaborated how the 14 were involved in
the killing of his brother.
While filing of the case around 11:45pm yesterday, it was seen that
Lokman's younger brother Shamim was talking with somebody over the
phone.
Shamim told The Daily Star that top AL leaders kept pressing him all
day long to drop the name of Bachchu from the case and include
Khokon's name instead.
This correspondent overheard Shamim telling somebody during one of his
phone conversations, "Why you are pressuring me to implicate Khokon?
He has nothing to do with it. But since you still insist, I'm
implicating two of his close aides."
During another phone conversation, Shamim Newaz was saying, "I cannot
betray with the blood of my slain brother and drop the name of the
minister's brother. The minister's brother threatened my brother on
many occasions. He was involved in the killing, not Khokon."
Anwar Hossain, the officer-in-charge, showed up at the police station
half an hour after Lokman's brothers arrived there around 11:00pm.
The officer first recorded the allegation as an FIR, not as a case and
advised the large number of people present there to go away.
He said he would turn the matter into a case later and give them the
case number as he was not able to record it as a case without talking
to his higher-ups.
The people present got angry and said they would not leave the place
without a case number. The OC then requested for some time and went
out of the room to talk with his higher-ups over the phone.
He returned about 20-25 minutes later and agreed to record the
complaint as a case.
Earlier yesterday, talking to The Daily Star at Lokman's Basail
residence, his younger brother Shamim Newaz and close aides said they
were "very much" convinced that Raju and Bachchu were behind the
killing.
SM Kaioum, former vice-president of Bangladesh Chhatra League central
committee, who was close to Lokman, told this correspondent that they
were under pressure from Awami League high-ups to include Khokon's
name in the FIR.
"We are under pressure also not to mention in the FIR the names of the
telecommunications minister and his brother," Kaioum, also a former
general secretary of Narsingdi Govt College students' union, added.
Several others in the family also echoed the same.
On Wednesday, Shamim Newaz told this correspondent that they would
file a case with the police station that very day. Asked yesterday,
filing of the case is being delayed due to the tangle over mentioning
the names of accused, SM Kaioum and Shamim Newaz added.
A number of associates of Lokman also said Khokon used to admire the
mayor very much and they will never buy that he was involved in the
killing.
"We don't want that Lokman's assassination will be used for political
purposes," Asaduzzaman, the president of Narsingdi district AL, said.
"We want that the killers will be brought to justice and no innocent
will be harassed to serve anybody's political interest," Kazi Mohammad
Ali, religious affairs secretary of Narsingdi district AL, told The
Daily Star.
Hours after the killing of Lokman Hossain, a two-time gold medalist as
best mayor, police in association with Detective Branch arrested
Khokon from his residence near Khilgaon Matir Masjid in the capital
around 2:50am of Wednesday.
A chief judicial magistrate court of Narsingdi sent Khokon to custody
after rejecting his bail prayer, which was moved by more than a
hundred lawyers.
Khokon was shown arrested under Section 54 and police submitted a
report to the court, suspecting his involvement in the killing.
Hearing on a prayer to take him into a five-day remand was scheduled
for yesterday, but the court deferred it to November 9.
Quoting witnesses, Lokman's family and friends said that on Tuesday
around 8:00pm, a group of nine, aged between 25 and 35, took part in
the killing.
"Of the nine, one entered the district Awami League office on Sadar
Road and opened fire with a sophisticated gun and the eight others
stood guards in four groups outside," said Kaioum.
FAMILY ASKS WHYS
Family members and close aides of Lokman Hossain, a two-time gold
medalist as best mayor, have raised two questions and called upon the
law enforcement agencies to find out the answers.
"As a very popular mayor, my brother had relations with Rajiuddin
Ahmed Raju and his brother Salauddin Ahmed. But neither of them or
their representatives came to our house to see the body of my brother
or to console us," Lokman's younger brother Shamim Newaz said.
Except for Rajiuddin and his brother, all the lawmakers of Narsingdi
attended Lokman's janaza, he added.
"We know the minister is abroad, but why his brother did not attend
the janaza? We're almost sure from our sources that the minister's
brother is involved in the killing," Kaioum said.
The family members also asked why there was no electricity only in the
district AL office when Lokman was shot.
"Power in the AL office went out just minutes before the assassin
sprayed bullets on Lokman. The outage remained for three to four
minutes, and the gunman and his gang left the place by the time," said
district AL President Momtaz Uddin Bhuiyan.
"We want answers of these two major questions," Shamim Newaz said,
adding that many things will be clear once they know the whys.
According to the register of the district Palli Bidyut office, there
was no load shedding between 7:30pm and 8:00pm on Tuesday in the area
where the AL office is located.
An officer of local Palli Bidyut Samity office said someone might have
disconnected the electricity line.
Asked about his not attending the janaza and not going to Lokman's
house after the murder, Salauddin Ahmed, now in Dhaka, told a Prothom
Alo journalist on Wednesday that he usually does not attend janazas.
"Still, I wanted to attend Lokman's but some people by that time
pointed figure at my brother Rajiuddin Ahmed, saying he was behind the
killing. Thinking that the situation might worsen, I didn't attend the
janaza," Salauddin told the Prothom Alo over the telephone.
The Daily Star found his mobile phone switched off yesterday.
NARSINGDI STILL GLOOMY
A heavy gloom prevailed in the municipality yesterday as locals were
mourning for Lokman, "a mayor with a rare personality". The three-day
mourning will end today.
People of all ages and professions wore black badges, hoisted black
flags on their houses, rooftops, different offices and businesses.
Around a thousand people formed a human chain in front of the
Narsingdi municipality yesterday afternoon for over an hour. Officials
and staff of the municipality abstained from work for an hour.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=209118
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