Beating bus driver to death: Who were those plainclothes men?

On the night of April 22, 2019, a group of 14 to 15 men in plainclothes intercepted a bus in Chattogram city's Shikalbaha area and beat up the driver in front of the supervisor, helper and all the passengers.

After they left, critically injured Jalal Uddin, 50, the driver of Shyamoli Paribahan, was rushed to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Two days later, Jalal's brother Jewel Hossain filed a case with Karnaphuli Police Station over the incident.

According to the case statement, those men came in a microbus, an SUV and a car and introduced themselves as members of the Detective Branch of police. Some of them were carrying handcuffs, walkie-talkies and pistols.

They searched the bus for yaba pills but found nothing, it added.

Several witnesses said the same to police investigators.

The death sparked widespread protests at that time with Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation (east) and Chattogram Zilla Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation enforcing a 24-hour transport strike.

They demanded arrest and punishment of the perpetrators and compensation to the victim's family.

Three years have passed, but the law enforcers have not yet been able to identify who those men were, let alone arrest them.

The charge sheet has also not been filed yet, said officials concerned.

Chattogram Metropolitan Police officials said that during investigation they found that no drive was carried out by DB in Shikalbaha or nearby areas that night.

Speaking to this correspondent recently, a former additional deputy commissioner  of the CMP, who was involved with the initial probe, said they saw CCTV footage that shows a microbus, an SUV and a car of another law enforcement agency crossing the toll plaza of Shah Amanat Bridge's Karnaphuli end and heading towards the city after the incident. 

The toll plaza is about five kilometres off the crime scene.

Currently, the case is being investigated by the Counter Terrorism Division of CMP. Asked if those in the vehicles had anything to do with the murder, investigation officer Inspector Sanjay Sinha declined to comment.

Seeking anonymity, a top CMP official said, "There was no CCTV camera where the incident happened. We initially thought the vehicles belonged to the DB, but it confirmed that it did not carry out any drive in the area that night."

Former CMP commissioner Md Mahbubur Rahman said, "We found there was no presence of DB or any other police team in Shikalbaha area that night."

Asked about the progress in the probe, CMP Commissioner Saleh Mohammad Tanvir said, "I don't know the details. I will look into why the case has not been solved yet."

According to the case documents, the group of men stopped the bus at Bhellapara Bridge's east side on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway around 11:30pm on April 22, 2019, while the vehicle was heading towards Cox's Bazar from Gazipur's Chandra.

At least eight of them got on the bus and started searching it claiming there were yaba pills in the vehicle. But failing to find any, they handcuffed driver Jalal, took him outside and started beating him up.

They brought him back to the bus and beat him up again, leaving him critically injured, said the case statement.

Bus supervisor Azim Uddin and night guard Abdus Sabur of a local sand trading office testified before a Chattogram court on April 26, 2019.

Azim, in his statement, provided an account that matches with the case statement. He also said he tried to save Jalal but had to back off after being intimidated by the attackers.

Sabur, 70, in his statement said he was on duty that night when a microbus came near his office and four people got down from it. Later, an SUV and a private car arrived and all the vehicles were parked in a queue.

The vehicles left the spot around 1:00am.

Dr Smritikona Mazumdar, lecturer of forensic medicine department at Chattogram Medical College, performed the post-mortem on Jalal's body. In his report, he wrote, "Blood in nose, mouth. Mud all over the body. Bruises in both arms. Bruises in both thighs, legs. Bruises in abdomen…"

"Death, in my opinion, was due to haemorrhagic shock as a result of a head injury ... "

Speaking to The Daily Star, Jalal's brother Jewel said they were waiting for justice.

"We don't know whether we will ever get that. We are frustrated with the slow pace of the investigation.

"One of the sons of Jalal works as my helper. Whenever I look at his face, I find no words to console him," said Jewel, a truck driver.