Murder case complainant attacked
A complainant of a murder case was beaten and left in a ditch by a group of unidentified miscreants on Friday night in Patuakhali.
Zakir Hossain, 26, of Rajnagor village under Bauphal upazila was admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) in Barisal in a critical condition on Saturday. He is still undergoing treatment there.
Zakir, a student at a college in Dhaka, is also an activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League (Bauphal upazila unit).
He is the complainant in the murder case of Monir Hossain, his brother-in-law. Monir, 35, died at SBMCH on August 9, 2013 after he was attacked by miscreants on August 5.
Meanwhile, on Friday night, Zakir was going to his house in Rajnagar village from Patuakhali town around 8:30pm, said police quoting family members and witnesses.
After crossing the Lohalia river, he got on a motorbike. Suddenly, a gang of six on two motorbikes started following him. They soon overtook him and blocked the road in Bhanga Bridge area.
Around 9:50pm, finding no other alternatives, Zakir entered a shop and called the officer-in-charge of Bauphal Police Station and the mayor of Bauphal municipality.
Suddenly, the six miscreants armed with rods and sticks swooped on him. They took him to Holabunia village and started beating him. He was later rescued in an unconscious state by police and taken to Bauphal Upazila Health Complex.
“His body bore several injury marks,” said Akhter-Uz-Zaman, medical officer of the health complex. “We referred him to SBMCH.”
Sudeep Halder, assistant registrar of the orthopaedic department at SBMCH, said both of his legs and left arm are broken.
This correspondent spoke to Zakir at the hospital yesterday. “They [attackers] wanted to kill me…,” he said.
Mahmud Rahad Jamshed, secretary of Bauphal upazila BCL, said Zakir is a BCL activist. “He was attacked as he is the complainant in a murder case.”
Zia-Ul Haque, municipality mayor of Bauphal, said, “After receiving a call from Zakir, I immediately informed the matter to the OC. The attackers must be punished.”
OC Monirul Islam of Bauphal Police Station said receiving Zakir's call, they rescued him. “No case was filed yet as he is still under treatment.”
Zakir filed the murder case accusing 18 people including Motaleb Hawlader, secretary of Bauphal upazila Awami League, on August 12, 2013.
Later, police submitted a charge sheet to a Patuakhali court excluding Motaleb as his involvement was not found. In 2016, Zakir submitted an objection petition to the court challenging it and the court asked the detective branch of police to reinvestigate.
“Motaleb became angry with me after that,” claimed Zakir.
Contacted, Motaleb Hawlader said, “I didn't even know Zakir was attacked. I heard about it two days later. He is spreading propaganda against me.”
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