“Before I die, if I heard that the criminals were punished, I would have a little peace of mind,” said Nurjahan Begum, the mother of journalist Julhas.
Julhas, who was from Dakkhin Hatkura village of Dhaka’s Dhamrai upazila, was slaughtered in Barbaria bus stand of the upazila in broad daylight on 3 September 2020. He was the Dhamrai correspondent of Bijoy TV and vice-president of Dhamrai Press Club.
This correspondent visited Julhas' home on Sunday, 25 June and spoke to his wife Kabita Begum. She told Prothom Alo, “I have given a businessman money left by my husband, and I just about run the family with the profits from that money.”
Sources at Dhamrai police station said the sister of Julhas, Rina Begum, filed a murder case with Dhamrai police station on the day after the murder. A certain Md Shahin, Md Moazzem Hossain, Md Anis, Md Mamun and Abdul Maleque were named as the accused in the case.
According to case statement, a certain Suma Akter married Julhas five years ago after divorcing one of the accused, Md Shahin. Julhas went to Manikganj for personal reasons on the day of the event. Meanwhile, Md Shahin and other accused planned to kill Julhas. Julhas returned from Manikganj by a bus. As he got down from the bus in Barbaria bus stand at 2:45pm, Md Shahin and others stuck Julhas from the back with a knife and slit his throat four-inch deep.
At that time, Md Moazzem Hossain grappled with Julhas. Julhas ran toward the Barbaria mosque to save himself. The attackers then chased Julhas, caught him, stuck on the right and left side of his chest and fled the scene. Police detained Md Shahin and Md Moazzem Hossain with the help of locals. Julhas was rushed to Manikganj Sadar Hospital where he was declared dead. At the time of his death, Julhas was the finance secretary of Jubo League’s Manikganj Sadar upazila unit.
Police said Md Shahin and Md Moazzem Hossain were shown arrested in the murder case later. Another accused Md Anis was arrested from Nabinagr bus stand area of Savar at the beginning of 2021.
Rina Begun said, “We wanted to file a no-confidence motion after the name of accused Md Mamun and Abdul Maleque were left out in the charge sheet. But, that did not happen. Now we want the killers get exemplary punishment.”
Dhaka district (south) detective branch inspector Kamal Hossain was then Dhamrai police station inspector and investigating officer of the case. He said police filed the charge sheet in the Julhas murder case in January 2021.
The plaintiff’s counsel Mehedi Hasan said the case is pending at the sixth additional district and session judge court and recording of witness deposition is underway. The accused Md Anis is at large while Md Moazzem Hossain is on bail and Md Shahin is behind bars, he added.
This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna