Bring the killers of Gazipur engineer to book

The death of Delwar Hossain, the 50-year-old executive engineer of Gazipur City Corporation (Zone-4), has caused quite a stir among the people. On 11 May, he started for the office from his Mirpur residence, but he never reached his destination. His dismembered body was only found in Dhaka’s Turag area, according to a Prothom Alo online report published on 12 May. We need to dig deep and find out why he was murdered.

Media reports say his family members and a number of other sources have mentioned that the murdered engineer had dispute with contractors over approval of bills worth millions. He did not want to approve those funds as he probably found irregularities, they added. He had on a number of occasions also turned down offers of bribes, and the locals knew him as an honest government officer.

If he was murdered because of his honesty, the authorities should be even more desperate to find the killers and bring them to book. Or else, the life of many other honest government officials will be difficult. We urge the law enforcement to look into the issue with due importance and unearth the truth.

Although the number of crimes has gone down during the coronavirus crisis, a number of killings have taken place in many places, especially in Gazipr. On 9 May, kidnappers killed a six-year-old as they were not paid the ransom. The body of another child was recovered the same day in Tongi area and police suspect she was killed after being raped. On 28 April, a teenager killed four of a family in the same district, after raping two girls.

These incidents prove that criminals have not been sitting idle during this crisis. The local administration and the community leaders should act immediately to restore normalcy in the district.