Six including man with helmet and machete identified

A young man in a helmet was seen hacking courier-service employee Nahid Hossain with a machete in video footage and photographs published by the media in the New Market clashes. The assailant has finally been identified as Bashar Emon.

Emon is a student of honours second year at Dhaka College. Emon, a residential student of the college’s International Hall, is involved in Chhatra League politics on campus.

None of the agencies deployed in law enforcement could arrest Emon yet. The International Hall of Dhaka College was raided on Sunday evening to search for him. Officials of the law enforcing agencies are reluctant to say anything certain about his location.

Meanwhile, Police have been able to identify another person wearing a helmet involved in the clashes at New Market area on last Tuesday. His name is Shahadat Hossain. He was seen participating in the clashes and attacks on that day holding a steel-pipe. Shahadat is an activist of Dhaka College Chhatra League unit.

This residential student of Dhaka College’s North Hall is from Netrakona. He is an honours student at the economics department of Dhaka College. Shahadat is familiar as a follower of Dhaka College Chhatra League unit’s dissolved convening committee member Jasim Uddin, on the campus.

Basahar Emon who hacked Nahid with a machete is a follower of Samad Azad alias Zulfikar, co-convener of the dissolved convening committee of Dhaka College Chhatra League.

Police so far could identify a total of six persons in connection to the clashes. All of them are students of Dhaka College as well as leaders and activists of Chhatra League. Other than Emon and Shahadat, the other four were identified as Quayum, Sujan Sarker, Shahin Sadek Mirza and Kawser Hamid alias Shada Kawsar. Shahin is a member of the dissolved convening committee of the college Chhatra League.

Among these six, Quayum, Sujan and Emon were directly involved in the killing of courier service employee Nahid Hossain. This has been confirmed through analysis of different video footages, statements of several witnesses and sources of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police.

Faruk Hossain, deputy commissioner of media and public relations division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said to Prothom alo on Sunday, six armed people have been identified so far in the incident of the New Market clash. Attempts are ongoing to identify all the others, involved in the incidents of clashes, vandalism and murder of two persons, he added.

Meanwhile, Prothom Alo tried to contact the helmet wearing Emon and Shahadat several times on their cell phones on Sunday, after their identities were confirmed. Emon’s phone was found switched off. When contacted Shahadat’s mobile phone number, a woman received the call and said it was not Shahadat’s phone number. She disconnected the call the next moment.

Law enforcement agency members detained a student named Jahir Hasan from room 101 of the International Hall of Dhaka College on Sunday evening. Bashar Emon used to live in that same room but, he wasn’t found during the raids.

Earlier on Sunday, law enforcement agency members took away four people from Dhaka College campus and adjacent areas for interrogation, claimed students. But none of the law enforcement agencies acknowledged that.

Although the students talked about four people being picked up for interrogation, they could provide information only on two of them. They are Samad Azad alias Zulfikar, co-convener of the dissolved convening committee and Md Jasim Uddin, member of the same committee.

Both of them were present on the spot during clashes on Tuesday. Samad and Jasim, both are top candidates of the upcoming new committee of Dhaka College Chhatra League. Samad’s village home is in Bhola district while Jasim’s is in Netrakona.

A source of the law enforcement agency confirmed to Prothom Alo, these two are among those four Chhatra League leaders whose followers were more rampant during the clashes with sharp weapons.

Prothom Alo tried to contact Jasim Uddin on his mobile phone on Sunday. Although his phone rang, he did not pick up the call. Jasim while talking to Prothom Alo on Saturday had said, they didn’t have any control over the Chhatra League leaders and activists during Tuesday’s clashes.

Samad Azad’s cell phone was found switched off on Sunday. He said to Prothom Alo on Saturday that he had tried to prevent students at the time of the clash but failed to do so because of Police’s restrictions.

Notably, students of Dhaka College locked in clashes with the traders and employees of New Market in the capital on 18 April. The incident sparked off from the dispute of two employees of two different restaurants at the New Market.

In that continuity, clashes continued between the students of Dhaka College and the shop-owners, salesmen and hawkers of various local markets at New Market area on the Mirpur Road throughout the day on 19 April (last Tuesday). Two people (courier service employee Nahid Hossain and salesman Mohammad Morsalin) have died in that clash while half a hundred people have sustained injuries.

Sources of DB police say, during the clashes not only the students but also the traders, salesmen and hawkers took part carrying sharp weapons like machetes and wearing helmets. They are being identified as well.

In total four cases have been filed in connection to the clashes at New Market area. Two of them are murder cases. And, the number of accused in those four cases is 1,574. Out of them, only 24 persons are identified and the rest are anonymous.

Mokbul Hossain has been made the prime accused in the case filed by police with New Market Police Station in connection to the clashes under allegations of obstructing government actions, attacking police, throwing stones, vandalism and injuring people. All the 24 people including Mokbul, mentioned as accused in this case, are BNP leaders and activists of the New Market area. However, police couldn’t arrest anyone else among the accused except Mokbul.

HM Azimul Haque, deputy commissioner of DB in Ramna said to Prothom Alo on Sunday, DB is investigating both the murder cases filed in connection to the incident of Tuesday. It was not possible to arrest anyone yet but attempts of arrest are ongoing.

A dispute between Kawsar and Bappi, employees of two restaurants at gate 4 of Dhaka’s New Market, sparked off the whole incident. Later, Bappi along with three Chhatra League activists of Dhaka College attacked Kawsar. People who were with Kawsar, retaliated and drove them away.

Police, trader and student sources say, at first two Chhatra League members named Nasim and Liton were injured when they went to attack on the night of 18 April. The other Chhatra League member Abdullah Al Masud was chased way and returned to Dhaka College campus, spreading rumours that shop workers attacked them following a dispute over paying the bill of food. This agitated the other students.

Later, some students locked into clashes with local traders and shop workers while they went to attack at New Market. Police could contain the situation on that night and tension spread again the next morning. Clashes, vandalism, chasing and violence continued throughout the day.

How the incident started is not mentioned in the statement of the two cases filed by police. Neither those two shop workers nor those three Chhatra League members are accused in the cases. Law enforcement agencies could not say anything certain about the whereabouts of those five people.

Sharif Md Faruquzzaman, senior assistant commissioner of New Market zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said to Prothom Alo, there was no information about people involved with the beginning of the incident, when the cases were filed. Information about those two shop workers and three Dhaka College students have been found from video footage and other evidence. As they are involved with the incident, they will obviously be accused in the cases. Attempts are ongoing to arrest them.