Rajshahi, May 6 – The teachers and students of English department of Rajshahi University (RU) brought out rally and formed human chain at the university on Sunday demanding fair justice in their fellow teacher Professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee murder case.On 23 April, a Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal has rescheduled to deliver verdict of Professor Dr Rezaul Karim killing case for today.
The protest rally brought out around 10am in front of Shahidullah Arts faculty and marching different roads of the campus terminated at “Mokul Manch” where more than two hundred students and teachers were present here.
Chairman of the dept Professor Dr AFM Maswood Akhter, associate professor Dr Abdullah Al Mamun, lecturer Ridita Mizan and the deceased Professor’s daughter Rizwana Hasin Shotovi, among others, addressed the program on human chain while associate professor Dr Sakhawat Hossain conducted it.
Dr Abdullah Al Mamun said “we hope court will not delay on pronouncing verdict without any reasons and we will continue our protest program if we don’t get proper punishment on our colleague murder”. He also requested to students to aware about the verdict and to come forward for getting proper punishment and to continue strike program till getting proper justice.
Professor Maswood Akhter said an extremist youth society has been created in our societies who have been doing these heinous acts.
He urged the students to keep themselves refrain from all these heinous activities and to be united not let these acts to be happened again.
Associate Professor Abdullah Al Mamun said that they would continue their demonstrations until fair justice is met in the killing case.
“We want a fair justice of the killing. But, if we do not get a fair justice, we will go back to the movement again. That movement will not be a movement against the government, but a movement for getting the fair justice”, he said.
The speakers also urged to the concerned authorities to find out the mastermind of the killing who is still absconding and demanded capital punishment of the all accused.
Professor Rezaul Karim was hacked to death by unidentified assailants, near his house in Rajshahi city on April 23, 2017. Following the murder, Riasat Imtiaz Sourav, son of the victim, filed a case with Boalia police station on the day and the case was later transferred to the Detective Branch of police.
Six months after the murder, detectives submitted the charge-sheet into the killing to Rajshahi Chief Metropolitan Judge’s Court accusing eight members of Jamaatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, stating that Rezaul Karim was a victim of targeted killings orchestrated across the country by extremists.Among the accused, three were killed in ‘gunfights’ with the police at different times while the rest except for Shariful, the alleged mastermind behind the killing, are in jail.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesman IfteKhayer Alam told on Monday that they were trying to trace Shariful, a dropped out student of RU English department.
‘We are doing everything we can to arrest Shariful. We have declared a bounty on him. All our branches have been alerted about it,’ he said.
On 11 April, Sherin Kobita Akhter, justice of the Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal, fixed the verdict date. Four of the accused in the murder case were present in the court. Public Prosecutor Entajul Haque Babu said the investigation officer of the case took the testimony of 32 witnesses – 26 of them faced questioning and gave testimony in court.
Among the eight accused, Shariful Islam, a RU English department student, is still absconding. Using a codename of Khalid, Shariful was found responsible for planning the killing, according to the charge sheet.
Three other accused were killed in “police raids” and “gunfights”. Khairul Islam Payal alias Badhan was killed during the raid on July 1, 2016 at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, and two others — Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hasan and Tareque Hasan Milu alias Osman, were killed in “crossfire” in Rajshahi and Bogra.
Other accused – Polytechnic institute student Maskawath Hasan Sakib alias Abdullah, RU crop science department student Rahmatullah, AbdusSattar and Sattar’s son Ripon – gave confessional statements in the case.
On May 18, 2017, Hafizur Rahman, who was arrested in connection with the murder of RU teacher Prof AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, was the Islami Chhatra Shibir secretary of ward No 19 in Rajshahi and also a second year student of public administration department died under police custody at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH). – RU Correspondent
