BCL leader Diaz murder: CID asks for extension

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted the second autopsy report on Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Diaz Irfan Chowdhury's body to the court on Wednesday, while asking for an extension of the investigation period. The autopsy, performed by forensic doctors from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), was submitted to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Musiur Rahman according to court sources. The court did not pass any orders on the case as of yesterday. The CID's Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and the investigation officer for the case Humayun Kabir Sarkar told the Dhaka Tribune: "Through a preliminary report, we have informed the court about the overall investigation process, and mentioned that it was a murder case and not suicide as we initially thought." "The CID has also asked the court for more time for the investigation since the case has now taken a new turn," he added. The CID had also asked for an extension on the case in January. The Dhaka Tribune was able to obtain a copy of the second autopsy report, which was performed by three doctors from the DMCH's Forensics Department and headed by the department's Assistant Professor Dr Sohel Mahmud. In the report, the doctors mentioned: "Considering postmortem examination findings, chemical analysis reports, histopathological reports, previous postmortem reports, inquest report findings obtained from the crime scene visit and photographs of the dead body supplied by the police, we are of the opinion that the death was caused by asphyxiation resulting from hanging followed by coma due to the above mentioned injuries (in the postmortem report), which were antemortem and homicidal in nature." The second autopsy report and the inquest reports from former Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Afsana Bilkis also mentioned three injuries on Diaz's body. Earlier on November 21, 2016, a team from Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) performed Diaz's first autopsy. In the report, doctors mentioned: "Death, in our opinion, was due to asphyxia resulting from hanging, which was antemortem in nature. The ligature mark and other circumstantial evidence are consistent with suicidal hanging." After the report was published, Diaz's family members rejected the report and filed a murder case, accusing 10 Chhatra League members from Chittagong University and a former assistant proctor. A court in Chittagong ordered a second autopsy after Diaz's mother lodged the case. The second autopsy was performed after Dr Shohel Mahmud exhumed Diaz's body on December 11, 2016. After the postmortem, Dr Mahmud said that injury marks were found on Diaz's body. The three members of the DMCH Forensics Department came to Chittagong on January 1 and collected circumstantial evidence after visiting Diaz's house and talking to CMCH doctors who performed the first autopsy. CID's Special Superintendent of Police Barrister Mossharaf Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: "The first post mortem report does not match with the second report, and there are some significant changes on the second one. The DMCH's doctors have performed DNA profiling and chemical examination to find out the reason behind Diaz's death and make the report much more accurate." The SSP added that the investigation will look into why the two reports differed from each other. Former Joint Secretary of Chittagong University's BCL unit and Assistant Secretary of BCL's central unit Diaz Irfan Chowdhury was found dead in his flat near Chittagong University's Gate Number 2 on November 20 last year. Diaz's family and fellow Chhatra League members from CU allege that Diaz was murdered by rivals over a tender bidding issue.