Eleven days have passed since the death of delivery worker Nahid Hossain, but police have yet to track down Bashar Emon, a second-year student of the Bangla department of Dhaka College, who is the key accused in the case filed over his death.
Nahid, 18, succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after he was hacked by some Dhaka College students on April 19 during the daylong skirmishes between students of the college and traders and workers of New Market.
Nahid Hossain CollectedLaw enforcement officers on April 24 identified Emon through footage of the brutal attack on Nahid. Nahid got hit by a brick in the upper part of his left arm and leg. As seen in pictures and videos, his left arm was tied with a piece of clothing.
In a video widely circulated on social media and in photos, Emon was seen hacking Nahid in his back with a long dagger.
The Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), which is investigating the case, recently arrested five Dhaka College students active in the politics of Chhatra League’s Dhaka College unit. A Dhaka court on April 28 granted the DB two days to interrogate them.
Emon is also a known Chhatra League activist at Dhaka College.
A DB officer, on condition of anonymity, said the specialized police unit had exhausted all technological resources but still could not track down Emon.
A clash between Dhaka College students and New Market traders is pictured on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune“We are now using traditional methods to figure out Emon’s whereabouts,” he said, without elaborating.
Emon might not be carrying any electronic devices with him right now as police had already confiscated two of his cell phones from his room in the International Hall of the college.
The DB is also trying to find out from where or whom the attackers got the machetes, iron rods and sticks used during the clashes, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The arrested students told police that senior leaders of the college’s Chhatra League unit had provided them with weapons and prodded them into taking to the streets.
Several Dhaka College students have said the arrestees are mostly followers of Jashim Uddin, a leader of a Chhatra League faction at the college.
He had been a member of a now-dissolved Chhatra League committee and had directly partaken in attacking Nahid, DB officers said in a press briefing on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Bangla daily Prothom Alo on the same day reported that Jasim had claimed that none of the arrestees were his followers.
DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Fazle Elahi said the arrestees were being interrogated to learn who had instigated the violence.
Five cases, including two murder cases, have been filed at New Market police station in connection with the clashes. The families of the two deceased—Nahid and shop worker Morsalin—filed the two murder cases; the police filed two cases over the mayhem; and the owner of the ambulance that had been vandalized at that time filed the other case.
The DB is investigating the murder cases. It acknowledged on Thursday that it had not yet made much progress in the two cases.
