Diaz's mother files murder case
The mother of deceased central Chhatra League leader Diaz Irfan Chowdhury yesterday lodged a murder case with a Chittagong court against around 20 people, including Chittagong University Assistant Proctor Anwar Hossain and CU BCL President Mohammad Alamgir Tipu.
Jaheda Amin Chowdhury, an employee of the university, filed the case with Chittagong Judicial Magistrate's Court against 10 named accused and eight to 10 unnamed people.
The case was filed a day after Diaz's family rejected the autopsy report that said the BCL leader committed suicide.
The court took the case into cognisance and directed the Criminal Investigation Department of police to submit a report to it in a month after investigating the incident by an officer equivalent to the rank of assistant superintendent of police, said plaintiff's lawyer SM Zahed Biru.
The other accused in the case are former CU BCL general secretary Jamsedul Alam Chowdhury, the unit's incumbent Entertainment Affairs Secretary Mizanur Rahman, economics students Rashedul Islam Jisan and Md Mansur Alam, marketing student Abu Torab Parash, social science student Abdul Malek, journalism student Ariful Haque Apu and Bengali student Md Arman.
All but Ariful are leaders of CU BCL, including the prime accused Jamsedul.
Diaz was the central assistant secretary of the pro-Awami League student body and also a former joint secretary of its CU unit. His body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his bedroom at his family's rented house at the university's Gate-2 area on Sunday night.
Friends and family members of Diaz accused a rival faction of the university unit BCL of killing him over a tender dispute involving the Tk 95 crore construction work of two CU buildings.
Talking to reporters on the court premises, Diaz's mother Jaheda said she wanted the authorities conduct a fair investigation into her son's death.
“We just want justice to be done. We want to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. I want to tell her everything,” she said.
Diaz's elder sister Jobaida Sarwar said the accused demanded extortion money from his brother. Failing to get money, the accused threatened the family members, looted and vandalised their house, she alleged.
Those who were behind the looting and vandalism killed Diaz, said Jobaida.
“All of my family members belong to the Awami League. Ours is a freedom fighter's family. We want justice from the court.”
According to the case statement, the accused had been threatening Diaz with life for several months for the extortion money of Tk 2 lakh.
On October 31, the accused entered the house, vandalised and looted valuables after failing to find Diaz.
Hathazari police refused to record a vandalism case until November 2 when BCL leader Tipu's name was dropped from the case statement. Following the filing of the case, the accused became more desperate and threatened to take revenge on the family if the case was not withdrawn, read the case statement.
The accused killed Diaz for being relieved from the previous case and establishing supremacy on the CU campus. His body was hanged from the ceiling fan with an ill motive of destroying evidence, it added.
The complainant said an influential quarter also influenced the preparation of the postmortem report.
Asked about the murder case, CU Vice Chancellor Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury said he was not aware of it.
“If the police department or other related agencies inform us about the case, we will look into it,” he said.
Assistant Proctor Md Helaluddin said they will take necessary measures after receiving the CID's probe report. If the allegation was not proved, legal steps would be taken for tarnishing a teacher's image, he added.
Talking to The Daily Star, BCL leader Tipu, an accused in the murder case, said it was very unfortunate that Diaz's family was “harassing the Chhatra League men” by filing a murder case.
“They should have filed an application with the CID or Police Bureau of Investigation, seeking a second autopsy,” he said.
Despite making repeated attempts, this newspaper could not reach the CU assistant proctor over the phone for his comment.
CAMPUS TENSE
Protesting against Diaz's death, a group of BCL activists intercepted two campus-bound teachers' buses in Nandir Hat of Hathazari, around four kilometres off the university, and Sholashahar area in Chittagong city around 8:00am.
Protestors took away keys from bus drivers. In Hathazari, protesters held the driver and his helper captive for about four and a half hours. The two buses could not be operated, said Prof Shafiul Azam, director of the University Transport Department.
The campus-bound shuttle train also did not leave the port city to avoid any untoward situation, said railway sources.
Academic activities were disrupted in most of the departments as teachers and students failed to reach the university, said CU Registrar Prof Kamrul Huda.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed on the campus.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Family members of Diaz at a press conference at Chittagong Press Club yesterday demanded the authorities concerned conduct a second autopsy on the BCL leader's body and ensure justice.
Diaz's elder sister Jobaida alleged that they could not go to Hathazari Police Station to file a murder case due to non-cooperation by the CU authorities and police.
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