Prosecution witness seeks protection
Links brother's murder with his testimony against Ghulam Azam
Law enforcers are clueless about the motive behind the murder of Ahmed Miraz, brother of a prosecution witness in war crimes trial, a day after Miraz was found dead near Kuril flyover in the capital.
Victim's elder brother Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul, who testified against alleged war criminal and ex-Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam, has expressed a deep sense of insecurity following his brother's murder.
A freedom fighter and noted musician, he has sought security from the state for him and his family.
“I feel insecure and so do my wife and son," he said while talking to The Daily Star at his Moghbazar house yesterday.
He pointed fingers at the defeated forces of 1971 for the murder of his brother.
After performing an autopsy on Miraz, Sohel Mahmud, a physician of Forensic Medicine Department at Dhaka Medical College, said it appeared that Miraz was strangled.
He said the doctors were examining if there was any trace of poison in the body.
Bulbul said his 44-year-old bachelor brother was murdered for his strong stance against war criminals.
"They [the defeated forces of 1971] killed my brother because I'm a prosecution witness," said the freedom fighter.
He said he had earlier asked for security from the authorities, as he gave deposition against Ghulam Azam. But his request went unheeded.
M Sanaul Huq, senior member of the investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunals, visited Bulbul's Moghbazar house and assured him of providing security.
On February 22, Syed Wahidul Alam Junu, another prosecution witness in war crimes trial, died in mysterious circumstances, 22 hours after he went missing in Chittagong.
He testified in a war crimes case against BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
Junu's family members said he had been threatened many times that if he didn't refrain from testifying against the BNP leader he would face dire consequences.
They alleged Junu had been murdered for testifying against Salauddin. His daughter Shamima said there were injury marks on her father's chin.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Miraz's elder sister Roksana Tanzim said he had been living in her Pallabi house for the last three years.
She said Miraz, a car trader, went out of the house around 11:15am on Saturday. Before leaving, he told her that he would watch a film at Cineplex in Bashundhara City and later meet some friends in Dhanmondi area.
"He used to get back home by 10:00pm. As he didn't return home after 10:30pm, I called him, but he didn't receive. I again rang him around 11:30pm, but got no response. When I called him for the third time around midnight, an unknown person received the call and identified himself as a policeman," said Roksana.
She said the person declined to tell her what had happened, and asked her to get someone else of her family to talk to him.
“I asked Bulbul to talk to him. Then we came to know about Miraz's death."
It's hard to guess why he would go to Kuril when he was supposed to stay in Dhanmondi area, she said.
Golam Faruk, a sub-inspector of Khilkhet Police Station, said some passers-by informed police that a body was seen lying near railway tracks at Kuril.
Shamim Hossain, officer-in-charge of Khilkhet Police Station, said no case was filed in connection with the murder.
Khandker Lutful Kabir, deputy commissioner of Gulshan division, said the Detective Branch (DB) of police is investigating the incident.
Nazrul Islam Mollah, deputy commissioner of DB (north), said they were checking the numbers and the identities of the callers on Miraz's phone. “We have just started the investigation," he said.