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A suspect in the brutal lynching of Tofazzal Hossain at a Dhaka University’s hall has fled the court premises after submitting a bail petition following his surrender.
Rashed Kamal Anik, a student of the Department of Soil, Water, and Environment, had his lawyer move the bail plea in Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana’s court.
However, when the court called for the hearing, both the suspect and his counsel were nowhere to be found.
"The surrender and bail petitions were submitted, but we could not find the lawyer or the suspect during the hearing on the petition," said Prosecution Sub-Inspector Jinnat Ali.
The lawyer, Jamal Uddin, avoided questions from journalists.
Anik was one of the 28 individuals named in the PBI chargesheet, a group that includes four suspects currently in custody, two out on bail, and 22 fugitives who remain at large.
Tofazzal, a 32-year-old man, with a mental health condition, was beaten to death on Sept 18, 2024.
A video that sparked national outrage showed students feeding him a meal at the hall's guest room, asking him how the food tasted, shortly before he was tied up and bludgeoned with hockey sticks and stamps over allegations of mobile phone theft.
Doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital declared him dead around midnight.
Tofazzal had reportedly been suffering from mental health issues and was unemployed at the time of his death.
Following the initial case filed on Sept 19 by Dhaka University Estate Office Supervisor Mohammad Amanullah at Shahbagh Police Station, the police first brought charges against 21 students on Dec 30, 2024.
The university administration filed a “no-confidence” petition claiming the initial probe was flawed.
The court ordered a reinvestigation by the PBI on Feb 26, 2025.
This led to a fresh charge sheet submitted by PBI on Dec 15, 2025, which expanded the list of suspects to 28 individuals.