Court to IO: Arrest the accused if necessary

A Chittagong court has allowed the investigation officer (IO) of a case filed over the murder of Chhatra League leader Diaz Irfan Chowdhury to arrest the accused if necessary. The court also asked the IO to submit the probe report by August 30, permitting the latter to take necessary measures so that the suspects cannot leave the country. Chittagong Chief Judicial Magistrate Munsi Moshiur Rahman passed the order Monday evening after going through the second autopsy report of Diaz, Chhatra League's central unit assistant secretary said. Earlier, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Humayun Kabir Sarkar submitted the post-mortem report on Wednesday, seeking an extension of the investigation period. The report was prepared by the forensic doctors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Diaz, also the former joint secretary of CU unit Chhatra League, was found dead in his flat located near the university's Gate No 2 area on November 20 last year. On November 23 that year, the first autopsy report prepared by a team of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH)’s forensic department termed the death a suicide. The next day, Diaz's family members rejected the claim and filed a murder case against 10 Chhatra League members from Chittagong University (CU) and a former assistant proctor. The accused are former BCL president of CU Jamshedul Alam Chowdhury, Sociology department teacher and also assistant proctor Anwar Hossain, CU BCL unit president Alamgir Tipu, his brother Arman Hossain, Rashedul Alam Jishan, Abu Torab Porash, Mansur Alam, Mizanur Rahman, Ariful Haque Opu, and Abdul Malek. Afterwards, another Chittagong court ordered a second autopsy after Diaz’s mother lodged the case. Complying with the court order, the head of the DMCH Forensic department Dr Shohel Mahmud conducted the second autopsy, exhuming Diaz 's body on December 11, 2016. After the second autopsy, Dr Shohel said injury marks were found on Diaz's body, while the first one mentioned that he was strangled to death. Ever since Diaz was found dead, his family and fellow Chhatra League men have been claiming that it was a preplanned murder by his rival men over a sensitive issue.