Hefajat man dies in judicial custody

Photo: Collected

A Hefajat-e-Islam activist died at a hospital in the capital yesterday while undergoing treatment in judicial custody.

Iqbal Hossain, 60, was a member of the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation's Sonargaon upazila unit of Narayanganj and president of Khelafat Majlish of the upazila unit.

He had been undergoing treatment at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital since May 15 with multiple physical complications, including heart disease. He died around 12:00 noon, said Suvash Kumar Ghosh, senior jail super of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

Iqbal along with three other Hefajat men were arrested in the capital's Jurain area on April 12 in violence cases. On the same day, they were produced before a court that sent them to jail.

Iqbal was on remand in two phases in three violence cases. After his remand, Iqbal became ill on May 5 and was admitted to Narayanganj General Hospital, said Mahbubul Alam, jailer of Narayanganj District Jail.

On May 11, he became sick again and was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. His condition was deteriorating. Later, he was shifted to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.

Contacted, Iqbal's daughter Mahbuba Akhter said, "My father was critically ill. But we were not allowed to meet him in jail, despite repeated attempts."

"We don't know whether my father was provided with proper treatment or not," she alleged.

However, Mahbubul denied the allegations.

On April 3, some ruling Awami League men kept Mamunul Haque, former joint general secretary of Hefajat central committee, confined to a resort's room in Narayanganj's Sonargaon upazila where he went with a woman.

Mamunul claimed that the woman is his second wife, though AL men were not satisfied with the claim and alleged that Mamunul had an extramarital affairs with the woman.

As the news of Mamunul's confinement spread, several hundreds of Hefajat unleashed violence there and took away Mamunul.

Later, three cases were filed in connection with the violence. Of these, police lodged two cases and the rest was filed by a local journalist.