Swecchasebak Dal issues 24-hour ultimatum for arrest of Muchabbir’s killers

The Jatiotabadi Swecchasebak Dal has said it will launch rigorous protests if the killers of its slain leader Azizur Rahman Muchabbir are not arrested within the next 24 hours.

Yasin Ali, senior vice-president of the BNP’s volunteer wing, and Vice-President Fakhrul Islam Robin issued the warning and announced a protest programme on Thursday, before Muchabbir’s funeral prayer held outside the party’s central office in Naya Paltan.

Robin said, “We demand the arrest of Muchabbir’s killers within the next 24 hours. In support of this demand, we are announcing protest programmes across all cities and districts, including the Dhaka metropolitan, this Saturday. If the killers are not apprehended by then, the Swecchasebak Dal will announce a strict programme.”

Shortly after 8pm on Wednesday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on Muchabbir in the alley of the Ahsanullah Institute of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, adjacent to Hotel Superstar on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

Abu Sufian Bepari Masud, general secretary of the Van Workers’ Union under Tejgaon Thana, also suffered bullet injuries at the time.

Locals later took both men to BRB Hospital, where the attending physician pronounced Muchabbir dead.

Earlier on Thursday, his wife Suraiya Begum filed a case at Tejgaon Police Station against unnamed individuals over the shooting and murder of Muchabbir.

After the Zuhr prayer, Muchabbir’s coffin was brought to the BNP’s central office.

BNP Joint Secretary General Habib Un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Swecchasebak Affairs Secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sopu, and other central leaders, alongside Yasin and numerous activists, attended the funeral.

In a brief speech before the funeral prayer, Sohel said, “I insist that whoever is involved in this murder must be arrested immediately and brought to justice.

“I want to tell the government: you have said you will hold elections. We trusted your word, and we welcomed the announcement of the election date.

“We, however, see that the killers of [Osman Sharif bin Hadi] have yet to be arrested. On Muchabbir’s murder, our colleagues have given a 24-hour ultimatum. We expect the killers to be arrested within this timeframe.

“Otherwise, we will assume there is a lack of sincerity on your part, or that you are incapable. I urge the government to take effective measures.”

Sarafat said, “Muchabbir was a patriotic and brave soldier. He was arrested many times during Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime. He was even a victim of enforced disappearance once.

“I later met him in prison after he survived that ordeal. His murder is unacceptable.”

Aminul Haque, Dhaka north convenor, alleged: “A certain quarter is carrying out these killings to foil the election. Muchabbir was a brave soldier who endured hundreds of cases and persecution but never left the streets.

“We believe his murder is part of a conspiracy to destabilise the country and sabotage the election. We must remain vigilant.”

Muchabbir was the former general secretary of the Dhaka north unit of the Swecchasebak Dal and had previously served as a joint secretary of the organisation’s central committee.

During the last Awami League government, he was arrested several times and imprisoned.

Ibn-e-Mizan, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Tejgaon Division, said on Thursday, “Muchabbir’s wife told us that her husband was receiving death threats for quite a while when she filed the case.”

The officer, however, noted that Suraiya did not clarify to police who had made these threats or why.