Wait for justice frozen in time

One year into the brutal murder of Tanwir Muhammad Taqi, Rab said it had cracked the murder mystery, identified the killers and even prepared a draft probe report.

However, that report never made it to any court for the last nine long years, leaving the killers to enjoy "undeclared indemnity".

A day before Taqi's first death anniversary, Col Ziaul Ahsan, the then additional director general of Rab, told the media they had evidence of the involvement of 11 people, including Azmery Osman, in the murder.

Azmery is the son of late Jatiya Party lawmaker Nasim Osman and nephew of ruling Awami League MP Shamim Osman.

The former Rab ADG also insisted the charge sheet in the case would be submitted any day.

That day, however, is yet to come, prolonging Taqi's parents' agonising wait for justice.

According to the probe findings, which were leaked in the media almost a year after the incident, Azmery not only masterminded the murder of the teenage boy in Narayanganj but also directly took part in it.

Upon his directives, his accomplices followed Taqi and forced him to Azmery's "torture centre" at Winner Fashion on Allama Iqbal Road on March 6, 2013.

Later that night, Azmery and his cohorts beat and strangled 17-year-old Taqi to death.

His body was then stuffed into a sack and taken to Charargop area in Azmery's car.

From there, the killers took the body to Kumudini Jora canal on a boat and dumped it in the Shitalakkhya sometime between 1:00am and 1:30am on March 7, according to the probe.

Taqi's body was recovered from the river the next day.

The draft probe report further mentioned that he was killed as his father Rafiur Rabbi played a key role in Salina Hayat Ivy's election campaign during the 2011 Narayanganj City Corporation polls in which Shamim was defeated by a huge margin.

Ziaul Ahsan, now a major general and serving as the director general of National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts on his cellphone.

Speaking to The Daily Star on Friday, a frustrated and emotional Rafiur Rabbi said, "People of the influential Osman family are involved in the murder of my son. Rab prepared the charge sheet nine years ago but hasn't yet submitted it to a court. And so, the family is enjoying 'undeclared indemnity' from the government.

"It is shocking and a matter of regret."

According to the probe findings, which were leaked in the media almost a year after the incident, Azmery not only masterminded the murder of the teenage boy in Narayanganj but also directly took part in it.

A student of ABC International School, Taqi's exceptional A-level results were published a day after he went missing. He emerged as the highest scorer in the world in physics, scoring 297 out of 300.

In chemistry, he got 294 -- the highest score to be obtained in the subject by anyone in the country.

Hours after his body was recovered, his father filed a murder case against unidentified accused with Narayanganj Sadar police.

On March 18, he submitted a complaint to the then Narayanganj SP accusing eight named persons, including Shamim Osman, and 8-10 unnamed others.

Upon a High Court order, the task of investigating the case was transferred to Rab on June 6 that year.

Around two months later, Rab raided Winner Fashion and recovered a blood-stained pair of jeans, the rear-end of a pistol, and instruments used to take Yaba from there.

A Narayanganj court has so far extended the date for the charge sheet's submission 60 times.

Asked about the progress of investigation, Lt Col Tanvir Mahmud Pasha, commanding officer of Rab-11, said the case is "still under investigation".

"It will take more time to complete the probe as the case is complex. I can't say exactly by when it will be completed," he told The Daily Star on Thursday.

About a top Rab official's assurance of submitting the charge sheet "soon", just a year after Taqi's killing, Tanvir said he cannot comment on that as he was not in the Rab-11 at that time.

Out of the five suspects arrested after the murder case was filed, two, including Azmery's close aide Sultan Shawkat Bhromor, gave confessional statements. All five are currently out on bail.

Prosecution lawyer Pradip Ghosh said Bhromor had confessed to a magistrate that Azmery and several others were directly involved in the murder.

Despite repeated attempts, Shamim Osman and Azmery could not be reached on their cellphones.

Azmery's mother Parveen Osman, a Jatiya Party presidium member, claimed her son was not involved in the killing.

"We also want the trial of the Taqi murder case and the truth come to light."