"My father died in my hands and the truth came out."
Samira Tanzin, daughter of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's former political secretary Abul Harris Chowdhury, said this after submitting the DNA test report of Harris Chowdhury to the court and issuing an order in this regard on Wednesday.
In 2021, media reported that after the death of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's political secretary and former BNP leader Abul Harris Chowdhury on September 4, 2021, he was buried as Mahmudur Rahman at a madrashah graveyard in Jalalabad area of Savar, Dhaka.
Harris Chowdhury's daughter filed a writ petition with the High Court after the mass uprising.
On September 5, the High Court issued a rule directing the exhumation of Harris Chowdhury's body to conduct DNA test to determine his identity.
On that day, Harris Chowdhury's daughter said: “The outgoing autocratic government and their intelligence department made a drama questioning the death of my father. The media has misreported one after another about his death. I have filed this writ to determine it so that it never arises.
“As a child, there will be doubts about my father's death, it is very tragic and painful. People still ask if he's really dead! We are being harassed. So I went to court to end it. The court did not disappoint. Abul Harris Chowdhury was buried at the graveyard of Jamia Khatamun Nabiyin Madrashah in Savar. The High Court also issued a rule asking why directives should not be given to exhume the body for a DNA test to determine his identity and why the death certificate should not be issued in the name of Abul Harris Chowdhury after the report of the DNA test came positive and why the Interpol Red Notice against him should not be withdrawn.”
According to the order, the body was exhumed from the grave on October 16.
Members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police exhumed the body. DNA samples were collected to confirm Harris Chowdhury's identity.
Later, the Crime and Investigation Department of the police submitted a report to the High Court. According to the CID's Forensic DNA Laboratory report, DNA tests found a complete DNA profile of a man from the teeth of an unidentified corpse.
DNA tests conclusively proved that the unidentified body is the biological father of Samira Tanzin alias Samira Tanzin Chowdhury.
Advocate Mahdeen Chowdhury stood for the writ petitioner.
Deputy Attorney General Shafiqur Rahman and Assistant Attorney General Md Isa stood for the state.
Advocate Mahdeen Chowdhury said: “According to his wish, the court allowed him to be buried at the graveyard of 'Shafiqul Haque Chowdhury Memorial Orphanage' in Ramdhaner Mati village of Kanaighat Road Bazar in Sylhet as a valiant freedom fighter.”
Samira Tanzin Chowdhury said, "My father died in my chest. And the truth came out... My father's remains are now in Dhaka Medical College. From there, Abbu will be taken to Sylhet for burial. We have to go through a process. The prosecution said that after confirming the sample, he has been now given permission for burial in Sylhet. The concerned authorities will comply with the court order in this regard. And the hearing of the rule is not over yet. There's the Interpol issue.”
