Mystery still shrouds Fardin’s death
In the last one month, we did not get any evidence of his [Fardin] murder. So now we are looking into whether any accident caused his death, or whether he died by suicide.
Failing to get any evidence of murder during the month-long investigation, Detective Brach of police is now also looking into whether Buet student Fardin Noor Parash was killed in an accident, or whether he committed suicide.
"In the last one month, we did not get any evidence of his [Fardin] murder. So now we are looking into whether any accident caused his death, or whether he died by suicide," Rajib Al Masud, deputy commissioner of DB (Motijheel) told The Daily Star on Friday night.
He, however, said they are still not ruling out the possibility that the Buet student was murdered. "We are still conducting the investigation keeping all possibilities in mind," Masud said.
Fardin's father Kazi Nooruddin, however, said that his son could not have committed suicide.
"Fardin saw ups and downs in the family and tackled every situation head-on. He is a fighter. A boy like him can never do something like that," he said.
Alongside DB, which has been tasked with the investigation, different agencies, including Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), are conducting shadow investigation.
Fardin's death stirred huge outrage and demand for vengeance on social media.
Asked about the deceased's autopsy report, which said injury marks were found in the body and pointed to murder, the DB official said they are now taking opinions from forensic experts to know whether it is possible to detect injury marks on a body that had been decomposing for three days.
After a board of three physicians of Narayanganj General Hospital conducted an autopsy, a doctor said Fardin had injury marks on his head and other body parts.
"The actual cause of death can be ascertained after receiving the viscera report, but it is certain that he was a victim of murder," the doctor told media on November 7.
Alongside DB, which has been tasked with the investigation, different agencies, including Rapid Action Battalion, are conducting shadow investigation.
DC Rajib Al Masud said the autopsy report of Awami League leader Duronto Biplob had also said that he was murdered as doctors found injuries. But investigators finally found that he drowned after a boat accident.
Duronto's body was found floating in Buriganga river, near Pagla, on November 10. The back of his head had been bashed in, and there were several injury marks on his chest. Later, doctors at Narayanganj General Hospital conducted an autopsy on the body.
Khandaker Al Moin, legal and media wing director of Rab, said they are yet to get any concrete evidence about Fardin's death.
The law enforcers are still analysing the information they have gathered to crack the mystery, he told The Daily Star on Friday night.
Asked about Rab's earlier claim that Fardin might have been killed in Narayanganj's Chonpara by local drug dealer Raihan Mahmud and his gang members, the Rab director said based on information collected through digital technology, they had made the statement.
"Mobile towers usually cover a radius of five to six kilometres. So, we had said that Fardin was last located somewhere near Chonpara. Raihan and his gang members came under radar because they are involved in keeping people hostage for money among other crimes," he added.
On November 7, the decomposing body of Fardin, a third-year student of civil engineering, was recovered from Shitalakkhya river in Narayanganj's Siddhirganj, three days after he went missing.
Different media, based on information provided by law enforcement sources, said drug dealers killed Fardin in Chonpara, a local drug-dealing spot, after he went there to get drugs.
Fardin's family and friends denied this outright, saying that Fardin could not even tolerate cigarette smoke.
FATHER UNHAPPY WITH PROBE
"We usually see that the main investigating agency takes the lead. But here, it's different. The shadow investigators are more vocal, which is surprising. They gave confusing information 24 hours after the body's recovery. Now they can't come up with any concrete proof," Kazi Nooruddin told The Daily Star.
"Two different agencies are giving contradicting statements sometimes… I wouldn't say that I'm hopeless. I want to keep faith in our law enforcement agencies, as they have some commendable records in cracking hard cases. But they should not confuse people with information that lacks credibility."
"On Facebook, some are discussing whether this incident has any connection with the fact that Fardin was vocal against politics on Buet campus. I don't know about that. But investigators should look into it too…," he said.
"Fardin might've been picked up from a point and taken across the city at gunpoint. He might've been forced to follow the perpetrators' instructions…The investigators should show us the CCTV footage of all locations… The boy who used to come home by 11:00pm, why would he roam the city like that in very suspicious locations?" he questioned.
TIMELINE
November 5 –
Kazi Nuruddin, father of Fardin Noor Parash, 24, filed a general diary with Rampura Police Station, as his son did not return home after going out on November 4.
November 7 –
Fardin's body was found floating on the Shitalakkhya river in Narayanganj's Siddhirganj around 5:00pm.
November 8 –
Sheikh Farhad, a resident medical officer at Narayanganj General Hospital, said that there were signs that Fardin was "physically tortured" before his death. "There were injury marks on his head, chest, and different other parts of his body."
Fardin's phone, wallet, and watch were found on his body.
November 9 –
Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station, said Fardin's mobile phone location was last tracked in Keraniganj, where he went through Old Dhaka's Johnson Road.
November 10 –
The victim's father filed a murder case with Rampura police station.
Amatullah Bushra, a friend of the deceased, was arrested and placed on a five-day remand.
Police said Fardin was seen on a rickshaw with Bushra in the capital's Rampura area around 10:00pm on November 4.
The case was transferred to the Detective Branch of police for investigation.
Shaheen Miah alias City Shaheen, 35, wanted in 23 cases, was killed in an alleged gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion.
November 11 –
Police said they are suspecting that Fardin was murdered in Narayanganj's Chonpara. His mobile phone was last found active in Chonpara at 2:35am on November 5.
Police said DMP's DB and Narayanganj police raided the Chonpara slum to arrest the suspected murderer. However, no one was arrested.
Fardin's classmates turned down the claim that he went to Chonpara to buy drugs. "In the last three years, I never even saw him smoking," said Saadman Sakib, a third-year student of civil engineering at Buet.
November 12 –
Police said Fardin's friend Bushra had nothing to do with the murder.
Both police and Rab said they were yet to find anything concrete and that they were analyzing different angles and clues.
Police said they were investigating possible links between Fardin's death and the discovery of an unidentified body a day after his body was recovered.
Sources confirmed the arrest of two suspected drug dealers in the Chonpara slum, but there was no official confirmation.
November 13 –
Family members claimed the arrest of four drug dealers from Chonpara slum—Raihan Mahmud, Uzzal, Roni, and Nuruzzaman—for alleged link with Fardin's murder.
But there was still no official confirmation.
November 14 –
Rab said they found evidence of Chonpara slum's drug peddler Rayhan Mahmud and his gang's involvement in the murder.
November 15 –
Rab said they had enough information to suspect that Fardin was killed in the Chonpara slum by Rayhan Mahmud and his gang.
November 16 –
Fardin's friend Bushra was sent to jail as no link was found with the murder.
November 17 –
Police said Fardin was last seen in Jatrabari, heading towards Biswa Road and Tarabo on a human haulier with four people around 2:05am on November 5.
November 19 –
After analyzing CCTV footage, police said Fardin was seen getting off at the Demra Staff Quarter intersection at 2:27am and headed towards the Chonpara slum on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw.
The victim's father refused police claims and said he did not understand anything watching the CCTV footage.
November 25 –
The family expressed frustration as investigators failed to identify the killers and establish a motive.
November 27 –
Police said they were considering new theories to know how and why he died.
December 3 –
Police said they were now trying to determine if an accident caused his death or whether he died by suicide.
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