'AL embarrassed' by Abbasi's reign of terror

He came into limelight with the murder of film actor Sohel Chowdhury. Later, there were allegations against him involving four murders, including killing three at a go. Apart from these, he has been accused of murder attempts, assault, land grabbing and extortion.

This is Faruk Sarker Abbasi, the current chairman of Bhaorkhola union. Last month he was accused of vandalizing the house of his opponent in the election and killing a member of the family. Police have not arrested him as yet.

Abbasi won the union parishad (UP) election in 2016 as a candidate of Awami League. However, the local Awami League leaders and activists are saying that Abbasi never had any post in the party. Everyone was shocked to when he got the support of Awami League in the UP election. It is not clear who patronizes Abbasi. However, the local leaders and activists are embarrassed by his activities.

Prothom Alo talked with the people of Bhaorkhola village regarding Abbasi’s activities. They said Faruk Abbasi worked at a tannery in the capital’s Hazaribagh area during the 90's. That is when he entered the crime world.

Film actor Sohel Chowdhury was killed at the Tramps Club in Banani in the capital on 18 December 1998. The detective branch (DB) of police submitted the charge sheet in case on 30 July 1999. Nine people were accused in this case, including controversial businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai. Faruk was the second accused in the case. The other accused are – Tramps Club’s owner Afaqul Islam alias Bunty Islam, Ashish Chowdhury and top criminal Sanjidul Islam (Emon), Adana Siddiquee, Tarik Saeed Mamun, Selim Khan and Harun-Ur-Rashid alias Leather Liton.

Sources involved in the investigation of the case say Faruk Abbasi took part in the Sohel Chowdhury murder as a 'shooter' through the criminal gang of Hazaribagh. The proceedings in the Sohel Chowdhury murder case have been stayed on the plea of the accused in the High Court. The trial of this case has not started even after 23 years.

According to the local sources, Abassi was in jail for a few days in connection with the Sohel Chowdhury murder case. After getting bail, he returned to his home in Bhaorkhola village. Later, he set up a terrorist gang in the village. When BNP came in power in 2001, Abbasi joined the party. He was elected as the Bhaorkhola UP chairman for the first time in 2003. He was elected as the UP chairman again in 2008 during the tenure of the caretaker government. He got himself affiliated in the local politics of Awami League after the change of the government. In the latest election of the Bhaorkhola UP, he won with the support from Awami League.

People of Bhaorkhola said upazila Swechcchashebak League’s joint convener Mohammad Sirajul Islam of the same village stood against Abbasi in the UP election of 2016. After losing the election, Sirajul was forced to leave the village due to the torture of Abbasi’s men. He did not return to the village after that.

Later, Sirajul came to the village with his family to attend his cousin’s marriage ceremony. Upon getting the news, Abbasi with his men attacked the house of Sirajul’s elder brother Abdus Salam on 19 February. Abbasi’s men randomly beat up and stabbed any men and women they found. Sirajul’s sister-in-law was killed and his brother Abdus Salam was critically injured in this incident. Abdus Salam is still undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) in the capital. Sirajul said he is passing days in extreme fear as Abbasi has not been arrested.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, the officer-in-charge (OC) of the Meghna police station, Abdul, Majid said that they are trying to arrest Abbasi. Till now some nine people have been arrested in this incident.

Faruk Abbasi also stabbed his cousin Liton Abbasi for being a plaintiff in an extortion case against him. Liton still cannot walk properly. He said there was no progress in the Sohel Chowdhury murder. This gave him confidence and he became a terror in the area. He does everything – land grabbing, collecting 'toll' construction sites, wedding events and from businesses. He is also an accused in triple murder case in Sonargaon.

Abassi’s relative said around the year 2000, Sultan Haji’s son, Mizanur Rahman of Sonargaon in Narayanganj, married Abbasi’s younger sister Lucky Akter. There were allegations that Abbasi killed Sultan Haji's daughter Reena (30) and her two children Shabni (7) and Anik (5) over a dispute with the family. The trial of the case filed in this incident has not been settled yet.

Reena’s brother and the plaintiff of this case, Habibur Rahman, recently spoke to the Sonargaon correspondent of Prothom Alo. He said Abbasi and his sister Lucky took Reena and her two children to Dhaka in 2003. Later, their dead bodies were found in a dustbin in the Mohammadpur area in the capital. The two children had cigarette burn marks on their bodies.

Habibur Rahman lodged a case with the Sonargaon police station in this incident on the allegations of kidnapping and murder. This case is still under trial in the second judge court of Narayanganj.

Concerned sources said Habibur Rahman, the plaintiff in the case, has acknowledged the court in writing that he has no objection if Abbasi gets bail. Abbasi surrendered to the court and got the bail after this.

However, Habibur claimed that Abbasi abducted him and took him to Uttara. Then Abbasi threatened Habibur at gunpoint and forced him to tell the court he had no objection to Abbasi being granted bail.

The locals said Abbasi’s men carry out extortion in the area. There has beens allegation that Abbasi forced the local farmers into fish farming (so-called fish project) in agricultural land. In protest, the local farmers blocked the Meghna-Homna regional road in 2019.

Nobody clarifies Abbasi’s source of power. Upazila Awami League’s president Shafiqul Alam said Faruk Abbasi was elected as the chairman with the boat symbol in the last UP election. However, he does not hold any post in the party. The leaders and activists of the party are embarrassed with the criminal activities of Abbasi.

Meghna upazila chairman and the general secretary of the upazila Awami League Saifullah Mia Ratan Sikder also said that as a party, they are embarrassed with Abbasi’s activities. He claimed that Abbasi got Awami League’s nomination through false statements.

*This interview appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu