Fardin murder: Investigating officers’ intention in question

The mystery of the murder of Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) student Fardin Nur has not come to light even after two weeks. On the contrary, there have been discrepancies in the statements of the Detective Branch (DB) of the police investigating the murder of Fardin and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) investigating the shadow.

RAB claims that they have come close to unravelling the mystery of this murder. RAB believes that Raihan and his accomplices beat Fardin to death in Chanpara on that night suspecting him a “source” of law enforcers. On the other hand, DB says he was killed somewhere else in Dhaka and the body was dumped in Shitalakshya.

Questions have been raised about the different statement of the two law enforcement organisations. Questions have also been raised about the willingness and sincerity of the investigating officers. This meritorious student of BUET left the house and returned as a dead body, but they could not identify the killers even after two weeks?

According to media reports, Fardin left home on 4 November for going to BUET campus. Naval police recovered his body from Shitalakshya river in Narayanganj on 7 November afternoon. Narayanganj General Hospital resident medical officer Sheikh Farhad told the media that Fardin’s body bore injuries. It is initially believed to be a homicide.

On the night of 9 November, Fardin’s father Nur Uddin filed a murder case at Rampura police station, where Fardin’s girlfriend Bushra and some unknown persons were made accused.

Following the case, the police arrested Bushra. Later she was taken into remand and questioned. Bushra is currently in prison. Initially, the detectives thought that there might be a love angle to this case. Later they moved from this angle.

Meanwhile, after Fardin’s murder, some sensational information about Chanpara’s drug business came to light. Among them, the arrest of Chanpara’s infamous drug dealer and local Awami League leader Bazlur Rahman and the death of his associate Rashidul Islam in the gunfight are noteworthy. Are these two incidents connected to the murder of Fardin?

The law and order forces claimed to have almost completed the investigation, but the mystery has not been unfurled.

Rather, the contradictory statements of the officials responsible for the investigation and shadow investigation have created doubt in the public mind. Former IGP AKM Shahidul Haque said, “Whether it is DB or RAB, nobody can just release any information to media for credit. This is not right. It should come in the media after an acceptable development in the investigation.”

As the days pass, many questions and doubts have arisen regarding the investigation of Fardin’s murder. It has drawn various criticisms on social media. The government should quickly complete the investigation and bring the actual criminals to justice to stop the criticism.

It is to be noted that the body of a teenager Tanveer Muhammad Taki was recovered from this Shitalakshya river in 2013.

Even after the accused gave a confessional statement in that incident, the investigation of the case did not proceed due to the pressure of the influential people. Repeating the same for Fardin’s is absolutely uncalled for.