Jubo Dal leader killed in Demra amid mob violence following false ‘robbery’ alarm
A man was beaten and hacked to death in Demra after a mosque loudspeaker announcement falsely warned that robbers had entered the area.
Subsequent police investigations revealed that there had been no robbery at all; rather, the killing was a premeditated murder of a local Jubo Dal leader.
The incident took place on 9 August last year in Dhaka’s Demra area. The victim, Sayeed Ahmed, was the convenor of Ward No. 67 (South Dhaka Metropolitan) Jubo Dal.
Following an extensive investigation, police submitted a charge sheet against 20 individuals to the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court on 30 August this year. The next stage of the case involves a hearing for the framing of charges.
The murder occurred in the aftermath of the July uprising, when the Sheikh Hasina government was overthrown on 5 August. For three days following the government’s fall, police operations were suspended across the country, during which multiple incidents of mob violence took place.
On 9 August, local Jubo Dal leaders and activists organised a victory rally to celebrate the fall of the government. After the rally, in the evening, Sayeed was attacked near the Oriental School junction in Demra while returning home.
Sayeed was killed due to political and business rivalry.
Sayeed’s uncle, Apel Mahmud, told Prothom Alo that around 20 to 25 men took part in the assault.
According to the charge sheet, prepared by Sub-Inspector Abdul Momin, the motive was an old rivalry and the murder was carefully planned.
The document states that at around 6 pm, as Sayeed approached the Oriental School area, he was assaulted and dragged into a nearby alley beside Al Falah School, where the attackers continued to beat him. During that time, Maghrib prayers were being offered in a nearby mosque.
One of the accused, Shukur Ali, was attending prayers, while another, Billal Hossain, took the microphone from the imam immediately after prayers and announced, “Robbers have entered the area; everyone come and see!” Billal and Shukur then joined others in the attack.
Another accused, Jakir, allegedly snatched Sayeed’s iPhone 14 Pro Max and Tk 15,000 during the assault.
Upon hearing the news, Sayeed’s wife, Sadia Islam Bithi and mother rushed to the scene. Despite their desperate pleas, the attackers did not stop. The charge sheet reports that Sayeed sustained severe injuries to his head and right eye from sharp weapons and his tendons were cut in both arms and legs.
A few hours later, around 10 pm, local residents, assisted by the Bangladesh Army, recovered the body and transported it to hospital.
The following day, Sadia Islam filed a murder case with Demra Police Station, naming 17 identified individuals and 20–25 unidentified others as suspects.
The case was later transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) and Sub-Inspector Abdul Momin took charge as the fourth investigating officer on 4 December last year.
According to court records, 16 suspects have been arrested so far. Of these, Shukur Ali has been released on High Court bail, while the others remain in custody.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Investigating Officer Abdul Momin said, “The accused are residents of Sayeed’s area. Their political identities are not of primary concern; they are criminals, that is their main identity. Sayeed was killed due to political and business rivalry.”
Defence lawyer Mofizul Islam, representing several of the accused stated, “My clients had no involvement in this incident and were unaware of what happened. They have been falsely implicated out of enmity.”
The charge sheet reports that Sayeed sustained severe injuries to his head and right eye from sharp weapons and his tendons were cut in both arms and legs.
He further noted that while the FIR mentioned the roles of only four accused, it provided no specific allegations against the others, “Since their names were in the FIR, the police included them in the charge sheet as well. Except for one, none of them had any prior general diary entries with the police. Now that the charge sheet has been filed, their bail has been revoked. We will present these matters before the court.”
When Prothom Alo attempted to contact Sadia Islam for her comments regarding the charge sheet, she declined to speak at this stage.