Former SP, 10 accused in Jessore murder case

A case has been filed in court against former police superintendent Anisur Rahman, TSI Rafiqul Islam and 10 others for allegedly killing two youths and kidnapping them from Jessore Municipal Park. On Sunday (August 24), the father of the missing youth Saidur Rahman, Kazi Touhidur Rahman Khokon of Nawapara village filed the case as the plaintiff on behalf of Sadar Upazila. Senior Judicial Magistrate Rahmat Ali took cognizance of the complaint and ordered the OC of Kotwali Police Station to investigate and submit a report. The plaintiff’s lawyer Milon Ahmed confirmed the matter. The other accused are: former councilor Golam Mostafa, son of Anarkali of Shankarpur in Jessore town, Fulu Mia, son of Shyam Hawlader of Kumarkhali village in Pirojpur Sadar upazila, Ramiz Sheikh and Nasir Sheikh, two sons of the late Hakim Sheikh, Saiful Sheikh, son of the late Hai Sheikh, Harun Or Rashid Sheikh, son of Jabbar Sheikh, Zahidul Sheikh, son of the late Selim Sheikh, and Al Amin Talukder, son of Jahangir Talukder. The plaintiff in the case mentioned that although he is in Jessore, his village house is in Kumarkhali, Pirojpur. They have a lot of property there. Except for SP Anis, TSI Rafiq and councilor Golam Mostafa, all the other accused are involved in the politics of the Awami League in Pirojpur. They are involved in various crimes, including atrocities against ordinary people and land grabbing. He came to know that the accused had forcibly occupied the village property. Later, he sent his son Saidur Rahman Said to his village home on April 1, 2017. When Said protested about this, the local accused threatened to kill and injure him and his family. Then Said returned to Jessore. On April 5 of that year, when Said and his friend Shaon went to the city’s municipal park in the afternoon, TSI Rafiq beat them up and arrested them in the presence of accused Golam Mostafa and others. The order was given by Superintendent of Police Anisur Rahman. After receiving the news, the plaintiff contacted the Kotwali police station but did not get any help. Later, when he went to the Superintendent of Police, he assured him to hand over the two youths to the court. On the other hand, TSI Rafiq and Golam Mostafa collected a ransom of Tk 10 lakh. But they did not hand them over to the court. At one stage, the plaintiff’s wife Hira Begum filed a case in the court regarding the incident. After receiving this news, TSI Rafiq caught the plaintiff’s wife and detained her at the house of District Awami League General Secretary Shahin Chakladar and pressured her to withdraw the case. If he did not agree, he was taken to the police superintendent’s office. There, the case was withdrawn by threatening to kill him with electric shock. Hira Begum fell ill and eventually died. To this day, Said and his friend Shaon have not been found. The plaintiff claims that they were killed and their bodies were disappeared. At that time, he did not have the courage to speak out against the accused because they were influential in the Awami League. Now, as the situation is favorable, he has filed a case in court to get justice eight years after the incident.