6yrs on, family awaits justice
It has been six years since the death of Teknaf municipality councillor Akramul Haque in a "gunfight" with the Rapid Action Battalion, but his family's quest for justice remains agonisingly unfulfilled.
The investigation into his murder appears to be moving at a snail's pace.
Meanwhile, his family continues to grapple with a sense of vulnerability as they have received warnings against speaking to the media.
"After my husband was killed, our family went through much harassment as we talked to the media and wanted to file a case," Ayesha Begum, the widow of Akram, told The Daily Star yesterday.
She said two influential ministers called her when she wanted justice and to meet with the prime minister. "Both the ministers asked me not to talk to the media and assured me that they were looking into my demand... but nothing happened afterwards," she said over the phone.
"Nobody inquires how I am struggling to run my family and manage the educational expenses of my two daughters," she said.
Akram, a three-time councillor, an Awami League member and former Teknaf Jubo League president, was killed in a "gunfight" with the Rab members at Noakhalipara on Teknaf Marine Drive Road in Cox's Bazar on the night of May 26 in 2018 during a nationwide anti-narcotics drive.
At a press conference in Cox's Bazar on May 31 of that year, Ayesha termed it a planned killing and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Two influential ministers asked me not to talk to the media and assured me that they were looking into my demand... but nothing happened afterwards. Nobody inquires how I am struggling to run my family and manage the educational expenses of my two daughters.
She gave reporters audio clips of chilling conversations recorded on her cellphone during the "crossfire".
In one of the records, the sound of pulling back the hammer of a gun was heard. Then a gunshot rang out. What followed next was the groaning of a man.
The Rab then claimed that Akram was killed in a "gunfight" between the elite force and drug dealers. It said Ayesha's allegations and statement were "completely untrue".
Arafat Islam, director at Rab legal and media wing, on Saturday said, "The incident was investigated as per the law, but I am not aware of the findings as I was not in Rab at that time."
Generally, an executive magistrate posted in Rab on deputation carries out an inquiry whenever any incident of firing takes place, said a former senior Rab officer, wishing anonymity.
Neither Rab nor any other authorities ever disclosed any investigation findings or whether any action was taken against Rab members over the incident.
On December 10, 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Rab and its seven current and former top officials, including the then IGP Benazir Ahmed and former Rab-7 Commanding Officer Lt Col Miftah Uddin Ahmed, for "serious human rights abuses."
The State Department, in a release, then specifically mentioned the extrajudicial killing of Akram.
On July 21, 2022, the National Human Rights Commission asked the senior secretary of the home ministry's public security division to send a report after investigating the so-called crossfire and the allegation of not registering a case by any agency other than Rab.
But the commission has yet to receive any report, though the NHRC chairman wrote 12 times to the senior secretary in this regard, said an NHRC official.
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