Some murderers enjoy free life
Two years after the horrific killing of Biswajit Das, as many as 13 of the 21 convicted killers are still on the run, some even roaming freely in the capital.
Of the fugitives, two were sentenced to death and 11 given life term for hacking Biswajit to death in broad daylight and in the presence of newsmen.
Our family is in a state of panic. As far as I am concerned some of the convicts were seen in different areas in the capital," Biswajit's elder brother Uttam Das told The Daily Star yesterday.
The family members were satisfied with the verdict but they were never told of any developments in the case, he added.
"We want execution of the killers."
Public Prosecutor SM Rafiqul Islam told this correspondent yesterday that no fresh arrest has been made since the Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 on December 18 last year handed down death sentence to eight BCL activists of Jagannath University and life term to 13 others.
He mentioned that those behind bars appealed to the High Court against the verdict. Their plea is now awaiting hearing.
Officer-in-Charge Khalilur Rahman of Sutrapur Police Station, where the murder case was filed, said he was unaware that some of the killers were seen in public.
A number of BCL activists said that some of the convicts have been keeping in touch with the BCL leaders at the university.
However, Shariful Islam and Sirajul Islam, president and general secretary of the BCL unit, denied having any links with the fugitives.
The BCL men who got death penalty are Rafiqul Islam Shakil, Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Emdadul Haque Emdad, GM Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Md Saiful Islam, Qayum Mia Tipu, Rajon Talukdar and Noor-e-Alam Limon.
Rajon, the prime accused, and Limon are on the run.
The ones given life imprisonment are AHM Kibria, Saiful Islam Saiful, Golam Mustafa, Alauddin, Obaidul Quader Tahsin, Imran Hossain, Khandaker Md Yunus Ali, Tarique Bin Zohur, Azizur Rahman, Al Amin Sheikh, Monirul Haque Pavel, Mosharraf Hossain and Kamrul Hasan.
Of them, only Kibria and Mustafa are behind bars.
DB Inspector Tajul Islam, also investigating officer of the case, said court sent arrest warrants to the police stations concerned.
“It is now the responsibility of the respective police stations to arrest the accused. If we come to know the convicts' whereabouts we will help police immediately,” he said.
It was around 9:00am on December 9, 2012, Biswajit was going to his tailoring shop at Shakhari Bazar in Old Dhaka during an opposition-sponsored blockade.
Suddenly, an explosion was heard. Chased by some unruly activists of the BCL of Jagannath University unit, Bishwajit ran for life and scurried onto the second floor of a nearby building. But his murderers hunted him down as he was trying to take shelter in a dental clinic on the floor.
They dragged him down to the streets beating and hacking as some of them continued to pound him.
It all was covered by the media and the image of a bleeding Biswajit would continue to haunt people.
Bishwajit somehow managed to free himself from his attackers and cross the road, but collapsed. Some pedestrians then put him on a rickshaw that took him to Mitford Hospital.
There, the 24-year-old breathed his last.
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