Another 'shootout' raises questions
Victim's wife claims her husband had nothing to do with drug trade for years
Belal Hossain, one of the two people killed in a “gunfight” with Rab in the city's Koromja area on Thursday night, was involved in fish farming, said his wife.
Talking to The Daily Star at the Rajshahi Medical College morgue yesterday, Belal's wife Amena Begum said her husband was a day labourer over a decade ago.
Nearly five years back, he learned the trade of selling cannabis from a man in his village and got involved in the trade, she said.
He continued in the trade for around one and a half years until he faced strong opposition from his family members over the trade.
The couple's only son Torikul Islam, an HSC student at Rajshahi Government College, said he made his father quit the trade.
Amena said two plainclothes members of a law enforcement agency went to their house in Poba upazila around 1:30pm on Wednesday and asked her husband if he was involved in drug peddling.
Within around half an hour after leaving the house, one of the two law enforcers phoned Belal and asked him to go to Nawhata area.
Although Amena asked her husband not to go there, Belal did not comply. He was confident that he would face no problem as he was no more involved in drug trade.
Belal went to Nawhata around 3:00pm. After sometime, he phoned his son.
Toriqul said he heard on the other side that someone slapped his father and the call ended.
Belal had been missing since then and his phone was found switched off.
Amena alleged that law enforcers used to take bribes from her husband to allow him run the drug trade.
“Why did they kill him even after he quit the trade?” she questioned.
The other man killed in the “gunfight” is Nazmul Haque.
His wife Ajenur Begum said although her husband was addicted to yaba, he had never been involved in drug peddling.
She said Nazmul went out of his home in Dobir Mollapar of Poba upazila around 4:00pm on Wednesday. He had been missing since then.
“I tried my best to help him come out of drug addiction…. Why he was given such a big punishment for his addiction?” Ajenir told this correspondent over the phone.