Friday, December 14, The Daily Star : ‘Bishwajit Murder : Killers not BCL men, Claims PMO, surprises all’
The Daily Star wrote, Nobody from Bangladesh Chhatra League killed Bishwajit Das. This startling statement came during a press briefing at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday, December 13, although news photographers and videos already have made it clear who hacked the youth to death in broad daylight on Sunday.
The PMO gave particulars of six “alleged murderers”, saying they include two former members of pro-Jamaat student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Briefing newsmen, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad alleged that BNP and Jamaat-Shibir kill people and put the blame on the ruling Awami League and its associated bodies.
“None of the alleged killers of Bishwajit is Chhatra League activist,” he said.
The six whom the press secretary dubbed as the alleged killers of Bishwajit are Obhidul Quader Tahsin, Rafiqul Islam Shakil, Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Noore Alam, Emdadul Haque and Saiful Islam.
Following are the particulars given by Abul Kalam Azad:
Tahsin of Char Kailash village in Noakhali was a Shibir member.
His father Maulana Mohiuddin is the principal of Azharul Ulum Fazil Madrasa of Sukhchar and elder brother Sabbir Ahmed Kajol was a top Shibir leader at Rajshahi University.
His younger brother Manjurul Quader is a Dakhil examinee at Azharul Ulum Fazil Madrasa and younger sister Tahmina Akhter studies in class-V at the same madrasa.
Shakil's home is on Fire Service Road in Patuakhali sadar upazila. His father Md Ansar Ali Khalifa, a retired staff of the district tax office, is a BNP supporter. His eldest brother Shahidul Islam Shahin is the joint convener of Patuakhali municipal Jubo Dal, a pro-BNP youth body.
Nahid of South Joynagar village at Daulatkhan upazila in Bhola was involved in Shibir politics in the past. He passed Alim and Fazil from different madrasas in the district.
His father Abdur Rahman is a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader and maternal uncles are BNP supporters. His maternal grandfather was a “notorious Razakar” during the Liberation War, 1971.
Nahid's elder brother is the president of a dormitory unit of RU Chhatra Shibir and an accused in the Faruk murder case.
There are more than one cases filed for various offences including women repression, mugging and abduction against Noore Alam, son of Md Nurul Islam of Sulipara village under Pirgachha upazila of Rangpur.
Emdadul is the son of Md Akram Ali of Pachkaira village under Sarsha upazila in Jessore. His uncle Shahjahan is a Jamaat worker and principal of local Samata Madrasa.
Saiful Islam, son of Abdul Hai of Chandanbari Purbapara village under Manohordi upazila in Narshingdi, is a third-year student of Islamic history at Jagannath University.
Talking to the press, Azad said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina strictly believes no killers and criminals have political identities. They have to be given stern punishment no matter who they are.
He said some of the killers of Bishwajit have been arrested and attempts are on to arrest the rest.
The press secretary pointed out different negative activities of the main opposition BNP and its key ally Jamaat after the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
In the month of Liberation War victory, the BNP-Jamaat has been creating anarchy in the country through vandalism, arson and murder in a bid to save the war criminals.
It was the BNP-Jamaat's anarchy Bishwajit was brutally killed for, he said.
Azad added that the BNP-Jamaat is hatching conspiracies at home and abroad to make the International Crimes Tribunal controversial.
By supporting Jamaat's December 4 hartal, BNP, which rehabilitated the anti-liberation forces in politics, made them parliament members, resorted to killings and terrorism including the August 21 grenade attacks and patronised militancy, has proved that it does not want war crimes trial, the press secretary said.
He also said not only the killers of Bishwajit, but also all the casualties during the hartal and blockade programmes of the main opposition party would be investigated and the culprits would be brought to book.
On The same day another headline of the Daily Star was ‘Murderers Indeed Linked To Bcl. 4 of them expelled from BCL but were very much active in its activities’
The report said, The Prime Minister's Office claimed none of the killers of Bishwajit Das have link to Bangladesh Chhatra League, even though it is beyond doubt that at least 10 of them were very much involved in BCL politics at Jagannath University. A section of teachers, students, journalists and BCL leaders of the university have confirmed to The Daily Star that the youths who beat and hacked to death Bishwajit during an opposition blockade on Sunday were influential BCL activists.
Photographs of the day support their version.
Hours before the killing, the pro-Awami League student body brought out a procession in which the killers walked side by side with Jagannath University BCL President FM Shariful Islam.
They were in the front row, a special privilege only important members enjoy.
The same youths marched again alongside the same leader after the incident.
On December 10, Shariful Islam told The Daily Star, “Those who took part in the attack participate in BCL activities regularly. They are not BCL members, but they regularly participate in our activities on the campus.”
Chhatra League insiders say some of the killers even submitted their resumes to the JnU BCL president and general secretary to get posts in the unit committee.
But PM's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, during a press briefing at the PMO on Thursday, denied their link to Chhatra League. He gave names of six alleged killers, portraying their families to be involved in BNP or Jamaat politics.
One of the six is Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid. A photograph obtained by The Daily Star shows him in the birthday party of the JnU BCL president Sunday afternoon, hours after Bishwajit succumbed to injuries.
Azad claimed Nahid and Obhidul Quader Tahsin had been involved in Shibir politics in the past. But he said nothing about the current political activities of the duo.
He also did not say anything about the political affiliation of the other four.
The press secretary's statement rather focused on their family backgrounds. He didn't forget to mention that Tahsin's 10-year-old sister reads in class-V.
Names of Emdadul Haque, Rafiqul Islam Shakil and Noore Alam also came up in the statement.
The trio and along with another attacker, Mehedi Hasan, were expelled from BCL between 2009 and 2011 for stalking a female student, attacking a journalist on the campus and getting involved in factional feuds.
The Daily Star got a photograph that shows Nahid was in the front row along with other BCL leaders during a procession before the attack.
In another photo, Emdadul was right behind the JnU BCL president and general secretary in a procession after the incident.
This paper has already run reports on eight of the killers. Yesterday, it found identities of seven others.
This correspondent could not contact any of the seven as they were not available in the JnU campus yesterday. Their mobile phones were found switched off.
Yesterday was the first time since 2009 that no BCL activist was seen on the JnU campus.
On the dame day in the Daily Star another headline was ‘7 More Identified’
MEHEDI : A second-year law student at Jagannath University, Mehedi Hasan belongs to the BCL group led by campus unit General Secretary Sirajul Islam.
Photographs of the Bishwajit murder show Mehedi hitting Bishwajit with an iron rod in front of the Intensive Dental Care on Johnson Road.
Known on the campus as a BCL cadre, Mehedi also attacked the JnU correspondent of Daily Sokaler Khobor on October 10 last year, said JnU correspondents of other national dailies.
A case was also filed against him in this connection.
SUMAN :Academic information of Parvez Suman was not available but a senior BCL leader of the JnU unit said Suman was one of the assailants who directly took part in the murder.
Photographs show him wearing a black and white check shirt and beating Bishwajit with an iron rod.
AZIZUL :Hailing from Khulna, Azizul Islam is a master's final-year student of philosophy and an active BCL activist, said campus sources.
In newspaper photos and television footage, he was seen wearing a shawl and hitting Bishwajit.
RAJON :A fourth-year chemistry student, Rajon Talukder was seen on TV footage (including on ATN Bangla and Ekattur) to launch the initial attack, stabbing Bishwajit with a knife.
Originally from Netrokona, he is an active BCL activist, said campus sources, adding that he left the scene immediately after wounding Bishwajit.
Rajon was involved in many BCL factional clashes on the campus in the last few years.
MINHAZ :A master's third-semester student of statistics, Minhaz Mirza is an activist of Sirajul Islam group.
He was seen wearing red shoes and an off-white jacket and pounding Bishwajit.
RAFIQUL :Rafiqul Islam Rafique is a third-year student of political science at JnU, belonging to Sirajul Islam faction, sources said.
He indiscriminately beat the victim with an iron rod near the dental clinic, show photos and video footage of the killing.
Wearing jeans and a black full sleeve T-shirt, he continued hitting Bishwajit even as he was trying to escape the attack.
SAIFUL :Saiful Islam is a fourth-year student of history and an active BCL man on the campus. He belongs to Sirajul Islam faction.
Saiful, wearing a black blazer and blue jeans, hit Bishwajit with an iron rod, photographs show.
Even as Bishwajit tried to flee the scene in his last attempt to save his life, Saiful was among others who caught the victim and continued hitting him.
THE OTHER MURDERERS :
Through its own investigation, The Daily Star in the last few days identified eight other JnU students who directly took part in the murder. Their identities were published on Tuesday and Thursday. Eyewitnesses, general students and the political peers of the assailants confirmed their identities and involvement with the campus BCL.
The eight are Rafiqul Islam Shakil, Obhidul Quader, Emdadul Haque, Meer Md Noore Alam, Mahfuzur Rahman, Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Mohammad Uzzal and Mohammad Rintu.
Photos obtained by this paper show each of them either hacking or beating Bishwajit.

The Daily Star, Wednesday, December 12 : Tribunal chief quits over Skype scandal.
International Crimes Tribunal-1 Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq resigned on Wednesday December 11 amid controversy over the leak of his Skype conversation with an expatriate Bangladeshi legal expert.
Meanwhile, the main opposition BNP has called for trial of Justice Huq for “misdeeds”, and Jamaat-e-Islami, the top brass of which are under trial at the two war crimes tribunals, wants dissolution of both the courts.
Tribunal-1 is dealing with four cases -- one each against former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam, Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, Nayeb-e-Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
The trial of Sayedee's case is awaiting judgement.
The controversy surrounding Justice Huq began after Bangla national daily Amar Desh published “transcript of Skype conversation” of Justice Huq with expatriate Bangladeshi Ahmed Ziauddin, a law expert on international crimes.
On December 6, two days before the paper began publishing the “transcript”, the three-member Tribunal-1 led by Justice Huq in an order said Justice Huq's email and Skype accounts along with his computer had been hacked.
In the order, it was revealed that British magazine The Economist had in its possession the correspondence between the tribunal chief and the law expert based in Brussels.

The Daily Star, Friday, December 14, 2012 : Skype scandal gag on media,War crimes tribunal asks media to refrain from running any news related to it
British magazine The Economist published an online article based on, what it said, “hacked e-mails and telephone conversations” between Justice Nizamul Huq and Ahmed Ziauddin. The Daily Star is not running the article in view of Thursday December 13 directive of the International Crimes Tribunal-2.
International Crimes Tribunal-2 directed all Bangladeshi media to refrain from publishing or airing any piece or transcript related to the alleged conversations between Justice Nizamul Huq and Ahmed Ziauddin “for keeping the administration of justice unaffected”.
The three-member Tribunal-2, led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with newly appointed Justice Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam, passed the order following a prosecution petition.
Justice Huq recently stepped down from the post of Tribunal-1 chairman after Bangla daily Amar Desh published his alleged Skype conversations with Ziauddin, a legal expert based in Brussels.
Meanwhile, the High Court on Thursday December 13 issued a rule upon the government to explain within two weeks as to why it should not be directed to apprehend and prosecute acting editor Mahmudur Rahman of Bangla daily Amar Desh for publishing the alleged conversation of Justice Huq.
In response to a petition filed as public interest litigation, the High Court bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Farid Ahmed also directed the authorities concerned to stop the publishing of media reports which were based on the illegally received information. This order stays in effect until January 7, 2013.
The Daily Star, Friday, December 14, 2012 : Amar Desh sued for sedition.

A sedition case was filed on Thursday December 13 against Bangla daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and its publisher Hasmat Ali for running an online conversation between the former chairman of International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT) and an international crimes law expert.
Advocate Sahidur Rahman, a prosecutor of the tribunal, lodged the case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka, said court sources.
After holding an initial hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Hasibul Haque directed the officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station to register the case and take legal action against the accused.
The Daily Star, Saturday, December 15, 2012 : Top criminal Bikash freed on bail.

Top terror Bikash Kumar Biswas was secretly released from Kashimpur jail-2 on Friday December 11 upon a bail order.
Jail sources told The Daily Star last night that Bikash, 46, was released around 9:00am.
A resident of Mirpur, Bikash and his brother Prokash Kumar Biswas, also a top terror, are accused of several murders in the capital, especially in Mirpur and Agargaon areas.
Bikash has served 15 years in several cases since 1997 while Prokash is on the run.
The New Age headline was ‘Crime don Bikash freed secretly’
The report said, underworld don Bikash Kumar Biswas, accused in a series of murder, abduction and extortion cases, was released on bail from Kashimpur jail on Friday.
The jail authorities maintained secrecy in releasing Bikash early in the morning.
The jailer at Kashimpur Jail-2, Subhash Chandra Ghosh, told New Age that Bikash was released in the morning as he secured bail in cases filed against him. ‘He was released at 8:15am after the bail documents reached us in the morning,’ he said.

Jail sources said Bikash was last time arrested in 2009 from the jail gate immediately after his release on bail and implicated in a murder case by Tejgaon police in Dhaka and the special sessions judge’s court in Dhaka granted him bail on Thursday. In an unusual hurry, the bail documents reached Kashimpur jail and Bikash was released.
Sources in jail administration and at the home ministry said the most wanted criminal’s securing bail and subsequent release followed instructions from the government high-ups and all the legal procedures were followed in a hurry.

Two microbuses with tinted windows entered the jail in the morning and Bikash was put into one of them. Bikash was reportedly
welcomed by some senior officials and they reached him to an undisclosed location and since then police were unaware of his whereabouts. But Gazipur police straightaway denied their involvement.
The police superintendent of Gazipur, Abdul Baten, told New Age that he was not informed of any such incident. Asked about receiving Bikash by police officers, Baten said, ‘All I can say is that no one from Gazpur police was there and I know nothing of it.’
As per practice, the jail authorities inform law enforcers before releasing any criminal on bail. Asked whether he had informed the police before releasing Bikash, jailer Subhash said, ‘We simply executed the court order immediately after receiving it maintaining all procedures said in jail code.’
The local intelligence people were also in dark about the release. The officer-in-charge of detective police in Gazipur, Abul Khair, said they were usually informed before release of such criminals. ‘We are not aware whether anyone called Bikash was released today,’ he said.

Bikash and his elder brother Prakash Kumar Biswas led a crime network known as Prakash-Bikash gang and were included in two lists of most wanted criminals prepared by Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Prakash fled abroad before release of the lists.
Sons of Bimal Kumar Biswas of village Shibnagar in Kaliganj of Jhenaidah, Prakash and Bikash began criminal activities in Old Dhaka in late 1980s. Afterwards they moved towards eastern part of the city and established strongholds in Basabo area.
Following conflicts among crime rings in Dhaka, the duo moved towards Agargaon-Mirpur. Bikash was accused in a number of murders, including a double murder at Agargaon and killing at Local Government Engineering Department.

Bikash was first arrested in 1997. He was once released from the same jail on July 17, 2009 and was rearrested at jail gate by detective police under section 54 of penal code. After being produced in court, he was sent to Kashimpur jail on November 1, 2009.