Noakhali’s Kumargharia village resident Chhamir Khan says Ashraful was known as a gentle person in the locality. A former madrasa student, he wore Panjabi and Tupi all the time.
Locals noticed sudden changes in his behaviour a year back when he came home from Dhaka to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with his family.
“He observed the Eid a day before, which is unusual in our village. In the past, he always offered prayers at mosques and the Eidgah ground with us. Besides, he was calmer than before. We were surprised at the changes,” Chhamir said, adding that Nazim had not returned to the village after that Eid.
Ashraful Alam Nazim and an unidentified militant couple were killed in action during Operation Maximus at Moulvibazar’s Borohat den on April 1.
Son of late Sultan Mahmud, and youngest among seven siblings, Ashraful hails from Kumargharia village under Sonaimuri in Noakhali.
Ashraful achieved GPA 5 in Dakhil and Fazil examinations from Korihati Fazil Madrasa at Sonaimuri, and went to his maternal grandfather’s house in Dhaka in 2014 for higher studies. Family members say he did not contact his elder brother Abdul Aziz Helal, who is a businessman in Dhaka.
His changes were first visible in 2014 after he had gone to Dhaka for higher studies, said Dewti Union Parishad Member Motahar Hossain.
“When he came home, he used to walk with his head bowed down and did not talk much,” Motahar said.
“He had been missing for the last seven to eight months, but called his mother two months back and told her that he was working at a madrasa in the capital.
“I was shocked after hearing about his militant connection,” he said.
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Motahar also told the Dhaka Tribune that Nazma Begum, the youngest sister of Ashraful, had also stopped contacting the family.
Sonaimuri police Officer-in-Charge Ismail Mia told the Dhaka Tribune that the family had not lodged any general diary over the disappearance. “We are now looking for Ashraful’s sister after discovering that the missing lad had become a militant.”
Ashraful’s mother Monowara Begum, along with Motahar and a policeman, went to Moulvibazar Tuesday morning and identified the body.
Monowara said that she would not take the body for burial. “I do not want to be a part of his misdeeds,” she said.
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According to the DMP’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, Ashraful and his accomplice went to Sylhet from Moulvibazar on March 25 and set off two bombs near Atia Mahal in Shibbari area during a raid by the army’s para-commandos, killing seven people, including three law enforcers and injuring over 50 people.
They later returned to the Borohat den and were killed in another raid.