JnU Chhatra Dal leader killed, students protest in front of police station

Police have recovered the bloodstained body of Md Jobayed Hossain, a leader of the Jagannath University (JnU) unit of the BNP’s student wing Chhatra Dal, from Armanitola in Old Dhaka. There were stab wounds on his neck.

The body was found on Sunday night on the staircase of a building at Nur Box Lane in Armanitola’s Mahuttuli.

Jobayed Hossain was a student of the Statistics department (2019–20 session) at Jagannath University and a member of the convening committee of the university unit of Chhatra Dal.

According to police and Jobayed’s classmates, he used to tutor an HSC female student living in that building. After recovering the body, the police took the girl in for questioning.

Witnesses said that like other days, Jobayed went there in the evening to give tuition. Later, locals found him lying in a pool of blood on the staircase of the six-story building’s third floor. He was wearing a Jagannath University jersey with his name printed on it. Locals identified him from the jersey and informed the university authorities.

After receiving the news, Chhatra Dal activists and general students rushed to the spot. Around 11:00pm, after the forensic team arrived, police took Jobaied’s body to Mitford Hospital (Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital).
Soon after, Jagannath University students surrounded the house on Nur Box Lane and began protesting.

That night, students brought out a protest procession from the university campus. The procession marched through Bahadur Shah Park, Shankharibazar intersection, Judge Court, and Rayshaheb Bazaar, and ended up blocking the road at Tatibazar intersection. Later, around 12:30am, students set tires on fire and demonstrated in front of Bangshal Police Station.

The protesters demanded that the girl’s maternal uncle also be brought under interrogation. They chanted different slogans demanding justice over the murder.

The protest continued until around 1:45am, when this report was filed.
Farhad Hossain, a student of the English department (2017–18 session) at Jagannath University who joined the protest, told reporters that the administration failed to arrest the killers by six hours. Not only the girl but also her uncle, Dr Wahid, must be interrogated, because he was at home during the murder. He said he checked Jobaied’s pulse and then called 999 to inform the police.

Alleging that the killing was premeditated, Farhad demanded the immediate arrest and trial of those involved.

Rakibul Islam, central president of Chhatra Dal, told Prothom Alo “We are waiting for the administration’s action. Our movement will continue until the two people responsible for Jobaied’s murder are arrested.”