A young man has been stabbed to death in Cox’s Bazar. Khorshed Alam was a former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in the district.
The attack took place around 10:30 pm on Tuesday in the Jhau grove area near the sea beach, at Kabita Chattar in Cox’s Bazar town.
Khorshed was the son of Shah Alam from the Yusululghona area under ward no. 7 of Cox’s Bazar municipality.
He was involved in the politics of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), although he did not hold any official position.
Following the incident, police took a young woman named Tarin into custody. She was with Khorshed at the time of the attack and is also a former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Cox’s Bazar Sadar model police station officer-in-charge (OC) Md. Sami Uddin said Khorshed Alam was rescued in a critically injured condition and taken to the emergency department of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, where physicians declared him dead.
“The body has been kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy. Police operations are underway to identify and arrest those involved. Witnesses and close associates of the victim are being questioned. A woman who was with him at the time has also been taken into police custody,” the OC added.
According to police and witnesses, two young men attacked Khorshed while he was at Kabita Chattar at night. At one point, they stabbed him multiple times, injuring his abdomen, legs, and other parts of his body.
Tarin, who was with Khorshed at the time, said that while they were at Kabita Chattar, two young men suddenly approached and held Khorshed at knifepoint, demanding that he hand over his belongings. At one stage, they stabbed him.
JCD protest
After learning of Khorshed Alam’s death, leaders and activists of the JCD brought out a protest procession in Cox’s Bazar town around 1:15 am. The procession moved through the town and ended with a brief rally at the old Shaheed Minar.
At the rally, former district Chhatra Dal president Shahadat Hossain said, “Khorshed Alam, a frontline activist of the July movement and a Chhatra Dal worker, has been killed in a planned manner. Despite the alarming rise of youth gangs and muggers across the town, including the beach area, police remain inactive.”
Former general secretary district Chhatra Dal Fahimur Rahman said, “The beach and Kabita Chattar areas are currently crowded with thousands of tourists. Yet there is no police patrol in these important locations. This murder is a warning sign for what has been a peaceful tourist city.”
District NCP spokesperson and senior joint convener Md. Khaled Bin Saeed also accused the police of inaction. Addressing police officials, he said, “Either quickly arrest Khorshed’s killers, or step aside. You are no longer needed in Cox’s Bazar.”
Former councillor of ward no. 7 of Cox’s Bazar municipality, Osman Sarwar, was also present at the rally and demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the killing.