Eight years have passed since the murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, yet there has been little to no progress in the probe, frustrating the victim’s family.
Mymensingh and Cumilla cities go to polls today to pick their mayors and councillors, just two months after the Awami League formed a new government.
Despite 13-day-long vigorous campaigning by mayoral candidates in Cumilla City Corporation by-polls that ended last night, there is no apparent enthusiasm among voters.
Joinul Hossain, a 55-year-old farmer in Cumilla Sadar south upazila, followed in his father’s footsteps to dedicate his entire life to cultivating their small piece of land and fishing in a canal near it.
Seven years have passed since the killing of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, yet law enforcement agencies have failed to make any progress in the murder probe.
The BNP yesterday alleged the government was conspiring to implicate its senior leaders in “false and fabricated” cases to make them ineligible for the national election “like it did to Khaleda Zia”.
Though BNP men faced transport strikes and obstructions ahead of most of the recent rallies in several cities, the situation in Cumilla was different before today’s rally.
Commuters’ suffering in the sweltering heat on the roads, as most of them had to spend at least 30 minutes to an hour more than the usual time to reach their destinations due to gridlocks, has become a common situation in Cumilla city.
The split in the pro-BNP vote bank because of the party’s two expelled leaders running for mayor was a big advantage for the ruling Awami League candidate in the Cumilla City Corporation election.
It was at the Shilpakala Academy auditorium, Cumilla, around 8:20pm.
Voting in yesterday’s Cumilla City Corporation polls took place largely without hassles, but there were some complaints about technical issues with electronic voting machines and long waiting times.
An unusually calm Cumilla city goes to election this morning amid a lack of enthusiasm and excitement among the voters about the polls, considered an acid test for the newly formed Election Commission.
Ruling Awami League mayoral candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat said people of the Cumilla city wants change.
Monirul Haque Sakku, an independent in the Cumilla city mayoral polls, alleged that there is no level playing field right now and the ruling party candidate will try to create chaos on election day.
Candidates in the Cumilla city polls made their last-minute efforts to woo voters yesterday as the electioneering ended at midnight.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have declared zero tolerance against narcotics. But the ruling Awami League has picked a top listed patron of the illegal drug business as its mayoral candidate for the Cumilla city polls.
The family of Sohagi Jahan Tonu is losing hope that her brutal murder would be solved anytime soon as the killers are still at large six years on.