Abrar Fahad, a student at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), was brutally murdered by a group of Chhatra League leaders and activists on October 6, 2019, at Buet’s Sher-e-Bangla Hall.
According to his friends, Abrar had returned from his home in Kushtia that evening and entered his dormitory room (1011).
Members of the now-banned Chhatra League summoned him at about 8pm, and his body was found the next morning between the first and second storey stairs.
He was later pronounced dead by a Buet physician.
Abrar was tortured in two rooms after being suspected of belonging to Chhatra Shibir.
At 3am on October 7, 2019, following the event, a police patrol attempted to enter the hall but was denied entry.
When they came back around 4am, the body was transported to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after the doctor pronounced him dead.
Abrar's death via beating was later verified by the police.
The head of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime at the time, Monirul Islam, held a press conference after the investigation.
He claimed that although suspicion of Abrar's connection to Shibir was a contributing factor in the murder, it was not the sole one.
He said the accused had instilled a culture of fear at Buet and that Abrar was attacked for failing to respect them.
According to him, the attackers aimed to frighten people into respecting and greeting them.
Eleven individuals were directly involved in the murder, according to the charge sheet, while others had an indirect connection.
Eight of the people who were arrested admitted to the crime. Several Chhatra League officials were among the 19 people identified in the first case; however, subsequent inquiry led to the number of accused rising to 25.
Abrar had posted a Facebook status regarding Bangladesh-India relations on October 5, two days prior to his murder.
He was allegedly targeted for his critical views on social media over India-Bangladesh water sharing, which he thought went against the interest of Bangladesh and its people.
Numerous Buet students asserted after his passing that Abrar's torture and murder were motivated by the post. Abrar Fahad was cited as a symbol of resistance against Indian aggression by a number of political parties and organizations after his passing.
Several years after his passing, the High Court on Sunday upheld a lower court verdict sentencing 20 Buet students to death and five others to life imprisonment in the Abrar Fahad murder case.
