Jainal Hazari knew it all

Logs are placed on a road in Phulgazi upazila of Feni yesterday during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called to protest the murder of upazila chairman Ekramul Haque. Photo: Banglar Chokh

Two days after the brutal murder of Phulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haq in Feni, local Awami League lawmaker Nizam Hazari yesterday once again blamed the BNP for the killing.
The Feni-2 MP claimed that Jainal Hazari, former AL lawmaker from the same constituency, knew about the murder. He demanded that the police take Jainal Hazari on remand to find out the culprits.
But as Nizam spoke at a press conference at a hotel in Feni town, AL and Jubo League leaders demonstrated against him in Phulgazi. They demanded capital punishment for him, saying it was Nizam who was involved in Ekram's murder.
Ekram, who was also president of Phulgazi upazila AL, was shot and then burned alive in his car in Feni town on Tuesday morning.
About 35 assailants took part in the killing mission, and at least four of them are known to locals.
One of these four, Abid, is Nizam's cousin. The three others are Jahidul Islam Jahid, joint secretary of Phulgazi AL, Ziaul Haq Mister, a Jubo League leader of Feni municipality, and Sohel, a local cadre, according to eyewitnesses and district AL leaders.  
But The Daily Star could not independently verify the claim.
Asked about Nizam's demand for his remand, Jainal Hazari, who once came to be known as the godfather of Feni's crime world, said he had no problem with that.
"Then I can divulge everything about this heinous murder," Jainal, who has been living in the capital since the political changeover of 2007, told this newspaper by phone.
According to AL leaders in Feni, Ekramul was once a close aide of Nizam. But he became the lawmaker's archrival when he decided to take part in the January 5 national election from Feni-1, next to Nizam's constituency.

Ekram had to quit the polls race following pressure from Nizam, locals and AL leaders say.  
Early this month, Nizam got furious with Ekram, who allegedly leaked to journalists documents that show Nizam had come out of jail by submitting fake papers to the High Court.
According to reports published in the Bangla dailies Prothom Alo and Manabzamin on May 10, Nizam was given 10 years' jail sentence in an arms case in August 2000. But he came out of a Chittagong jail in December 2005 through forgery.
Nizam blamed Ekramul, Jainal Hazari and several others for the leak, sources said.
On May 19, a report published in daily Hazarika, a Feni-based newspaper owned by Jainal Hazari, said a plot had been hatched to abduct those who had exposed Nizam.
At the press conference, Nizam referred to this report, saying Jainal Hazari must have known of it beforehand. "So the truth will out if he is interrogated."
He also refuted claims that he had influenced Ekram's family to name local BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury as the prime suspect in the case.  
"The case statement was written by Ekram's brother Rezaul Haque Jasim," he claimed.  
But Rezaul told The Daily Star that the family was unhappy about the way the FIR was written on instructions from AL leaders. “We are concerned about the investigation.”
AL sources said the FIR was prepared on the instructions of Nizam.
Police have yet to identify the killers.
Paritosh Ghosh, superintendent of Feni police, said the law enforcers were collecting information about the murder.
“An investigation does not work like magic. We hope to arrest the perpetrators soon,” he said.
He added he had apprehended that such killings might occur in Feni sadar and more murders could take place in retaliation.
Over the last three days, police detained 23 people as suspects, but later released all but two after interrogation.
The two still in police custody are Mohammad Iqbal, 22, and Mohammad Shakhawat, 24.
Both are Jubo League activists of Feni sadar, where the killing took place, sources said.
Asked about Nizam's demand for quizzing Jainal Hazari, Paritosh said investigators would do so if necessary.
PRESS CONFERENCE  
Shushen Shil, joint general secretary of Feni Jubo League, read out a written statement on behalf of Nizam at the press conference where none of Ekram's family members was present.
Nizam later told The Daily Star that he did not say that Jainal Hazari was involved in the murder and that he only meant that Jainal knew of it beforehand.
He also dismissed reports that he had come out of jail through faking documents and said he had all the documents ready to be handed to journalists.
He, however, did not give any such documents.
To reporters' suggestions that local AL men were demonstrating against him on the streets, he said they were BNP men.
Asked about feuds within the AL, he said the party was united under the leadership of Alauddin Ahmed, former protocol officer of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
'NIZAM CAPTURED EVERYTHING'
According to Jainal Hazari, Nizam has captured everything in Feni with support from Alauddin.
About the investigation, he said the administration had become servile to Nizam and that it would do nothing against him.
Talking about the report published in his paper, he said he knew everything in Feni and the news was based on concrete information.