Source: RTNN |
The family of Abdullah Omar Naseef (Shahadat) , the Shibir activist killed
at Rajshahi in an ‘encounter’ with RAB on the 12th of May has said that
he had been arrested from Mirpur in Dhaka 9 days prior to his killing. On the other hand, to
protest the brutal killing, dawn to dusk hartal has been called for Monday in Rajshahi,
Natore and Chapai Nawabgonj by Shibir.
This announcement
of hartal was made by Shibir in a press statement sent to various news and
print media Sunday night.
According to the press statement, Shahadat had been arrested by members
of the UK trained elite force, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on the 4th
of May from a house at Mirpur 2 in Dhaka. As usual however, RAB had then
dismissed the allegations. Finally, Shahadat was killed by RAB-5 at Rajshahi
(at a location more than 250 kilometers from where the Shibir activist was
arrested).
In this context it is mentionable that news emerged of the killing of
Shahadat, a Shibir activist, in an ‘encounter’ with RAB during the early hours
on Sunday at Betar Ground, Binodpur in Rajshahi.
The family of the deceased said that Shahadat had been arrested by RAB a week before. They claimed that RAB had killed him elsewhere and dumped his body at the Betar Ground.
The family of the deceased said that Shahadat had been arrested by RAB a week before. They claimed that RAB had killed him elsewhere and dumped his body at the Betar Ground.
Lt Col Anwar Kabir Khan, group leader of RAB-5, informed journalists that
on obtaining information that a group of Shibir cadres had gathered in the area
to hold a ‘secret’ meeting at around 4.00am, a team of RAB-5 conducted a drive
there. Sensing the presence of elite forces, Shibir cadres opened fire, forcing
the lawmen to fire back, leading to a gunfight with Shibir. RAB officials later
found the bullet-riddled body of Shahadat lying on the ground. He added that
the law enforcers also recovered a pistol, a magazine loaded with five bullets,
six crude bombs and three bottles of petrol near the body.
However, Akhtaruzzaman Manu, father of Shahadat and a resident of Kajla
in the city said that
his son had gone to Dhaka on the 3rd of May in order to join the
rally of the Hefazat-e-Islam on the 5th of May. He had been residing
at his friend’s house at Mirpur-2 when he was arrested on the 4th of
May in the evening without any reason whatsoever. In the meantime he was not
even raised in court, despite a legal obligation to raise any arrested person
in court within 24 hours as demanded by the law. Despite repeated attempts by
the family members to locate Shahadat, they were met with denials from the
security agencies, especially RAB-5, who denied any knowledge of his
whereabouts or his existence. Finally, they got to meet him, but in a body bag.
No more will Shahadat ever speak again and we shall never know what he did to
deserve such cruel treatment.
Shahdat was a degree student of Katakhali Adorsho College. He was married. He is
survived by his wife and 5 year old son. His family has claimed that he was
killed after being severely tortured. A blanket of grief has descended upon the
locality where the martyr resided.
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