Off the hook, BCL activists now well-established
All of ten former BCL activists who were acquitted in the Dhaka University student Abu Bakar murder case are now well-established and leading free lives.
They are either in government jobs or working in private firms.
Ruling Bangladesh Awami League’s (AL) student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League’s (BCL) the then F Rahman Hall president Saiduzzaman Faruk, the prime accused in the murder case, confessed that all of the accused of Abu Bakar murder were members of his political party.
And they are, he added, now well established in their personal lives.
Several people, informed about the job status of the accused, confirmed to Prothom Alo that four people, including prime accused Saiduzzaman, are in government jobs while five others are working with different private firms.
Saiduzzaman, former president of the Sir AF Rahman Hall’s BCL unit, is an additional director at Jute Department. Among the other accused, Mansur Ahmed is working at Bangladesh Bank, Abu Zafar Md Salam at Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, and Mehedi Hasan aka Leon at Agrani Bank.
Mofidul Alam Khan is a journalist while the Dhaka University BCL unit’s former vice-president Asaduzzaman alias Jony is teaching at a private college in Dhaka.
Enamul Haque is a lawyer, Rakib Uddin alias Rakib is employed at a private firm and Towhid Khan is working of a non-government organisation (NGO).
It is not known where another of the acquitted, Alam-e-Julhas, is working.
Prime accused Saiduzzaman claimed that the court verdict showed they were not involved in the murder incident.
Mofidul Alam who also got acquittal told Prothom Alo that, according to the witnesses, Abu Bakar was killed when hit by police’s tear shell.
“Police illegally included us in the case only for harassment,” he added.
Plaintiff Omar Faruque who was also injured in the incident told Prothom Alo that BCL leaders, including Saiduzzaman and other accused, beat innocent students of the dormitory with iron rods and injured them with machete on the day.
About the acquittal, he said no one informed him about their release.