Ashulia teacher murder: Confusion over accused student's age

Confusion has been created over the age of the tenth-grader, who has been arrested in a case filed over killing a teacher of Haji Yunus Ali School and College in Chitrashail of Ashulia, Utpal Kumar Sarkar – a killing that sparked an outcry for justice from all quarters across the country.

The accused student is 19 years old as per his Junior School Certificate (JSC) papers, while the case statements records him as 16 years old.

Rapid Action Battalion’s (RAB) Legal and Media Wing director commander Khandaker Al Moin came up with this disclosure on Thursday afternoon at a press conference at RAB media center at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka.

Prothom Alo collected the registration card of his JSC examination under madrasa education board in 2020 – which bore his date of birth on 17 January in 2003. According to that, his age is 19 years, five months and 13 days.

RAB detective branch and RAB-1 arrested him on Wednesday from Gazipur conducting a joint drive.

In the press conference, Khandaker Al Moin said he admitted during primary interrogation that he was roaming around the school area rather brazenly with a girl student. Teacher Utpal asked him to behave properly – a warning that aggrieved him. Later, the student planned to attack the teacher in a bid to display his 'heroism'.

On 25 June, the student assaulted the teacher Utpal Kumar brutally with the cricket stump and left him critically injured – a day when a cricket tournament for girl students was underway in the school. The teacher succumbed to his injuries later. Following the incident, the student went into hiding in different districts.

Khandaker Al Moin said the student brought a cricket stump and kept it hidden behind the classroom. When the teacher Utpal Kumar was watching the cricket match standing alone at a corner of the field, the student came up and hit him on the head from behind.

Utpal Kumar Sarkar began teaching at Haji Yunus Ali School and College in Chitrashail of Ashulia after completing his graduation in political science from University of Chittagong.

According to Saiful Hasan, the principal of Haji Yunus Ali School and College, Utpal Sarkar was the president of the college’s disciplinary committee and he took various steps and gave counselling regarding the students’ misbehaviour.