Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam had been in fear for his life over the last two months. He shared his feelings with his family members and relatives, saying that local Awami League leader Nur Hossain, the prime suspect for abduction of seven people and killing them, could be a threat.
Followers of local AL leader Nazrul had informed him that Nur Hossain had been hatching a plot to kill him. As both Nazrul and Nur Hossain belong to the same party, Nazrul wanted the party men to mediate between them, but his attempt failed.
Fearing that he could be attacked or killed by his rivals, Nazrul had started living in the capital instead of Siddhirganj in Narayanganj, said his wife Selina Islam. After the abduction, she on Monday filed an abduction case against Nur Hossain, councillor of ward-4 and also vice-president of Siddhirganj thana AL.
The bodies of Nazrul Islam, senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar and five others were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River on Wednesday and Thursday after they were kidnapped in broad daylight in Narayanganj on April 27.
Selina yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that she had filed case against six named and six unnamed persons considering death threat they issued to Nazrul. She claimed that a feud between Nazrul and Nur Hossain had recently intensified centring the construction of a road.
The accused named in the case are Nur Hossain and his close aides Haji Yasin Miah, general secretary of Siddhirganj thana AL, Nazrul’s relative Hasmat Ali Hasu, also a BNP activist, Aminul Islam Raju, Swechchhasebak League leader, Anwar Hossain, general secretary of Sramik Dal and Iqbal Hossain, a realtor.
Of them, Yasin went into hiding soon after five of the abductees were found dead. Locals set fire to his petrol pump later.
Selina said the killers’ main target was Nazrul. The rest were killed as they witnessed the abduction, she said, adding that the lawyer and his driver had no connection with the incident at all.
“Professional people masterminded the plan and executed it. I strongly suspect that Nur Hossain Hossain hired them,” she claimed.
Feud between Nazrul and Nur Hossain
Nur Hossain was elected chairman of Siddhirganj union parishad in 1992 with BNP ticket. He was controlling the criminal world here during the BNP regime.
In the 1997 UP election, he defeated Nazrul, acting general secretary of Narayanganj district BCL, backed by influential AL leader Shamim Osman. But, Nazrul took control over crime and extortion world during the AL regime from 1996-2001. He became a member of central Jubo League.
The feud between them started during the election in 1997. Nazrul wanted to kill Nur Hossain several times. Nur Hossain was once shot in 1998, but escaped death.
After the election, Nur Hossain joined the AL and became vice-president of Siddhirganj Thana AL. Nazrul was elected councillor of ward-2 in the 2011 city corporation election. The latest feud over the construction of a road resulted in the murder.
Feud with five other accused
Nazrul was trying to capture the post of general secretary of Siddhirganj thana AL. Yasin, the incumbent secretary, did not want him to be the secretary which triggered a feud. Iqbal was an opponent of Nazrul in the city corporation polls.
Selina said Iqbal submitted papers of cases, where Nazrul was accused, to the election commission before the polls to cancel his candidature. The commission scrapped Nazrul’s candidature over the documents. Hasu, Raju and Anwar helped Iqbal collect the case documents which accelerated the feud.
As per an appeal made by Nazrul, the commission allowed him to contest the polls and finally, he won the election.
Latest feud over road construction
Nazrul was supervising the construction work of a road from Mouchak to Mijmiji area. To make the road wider, the contractor needed to remove a rice go-down, owned by one Mobarak Hossain, at Chowdhurypara. Nazrul talked with Mobarak to remove a portion of the go-down to make way for the road. But Mobarak contacted Nur Hossain, also brother-in-law of Mobarak, to look after the issue.
On February 19, Nur Hossain and Nazrul arranged an arbitration to resolve the problem where both of them locked in heated debate.
Over the issue, Nur Hossain’s men vandalised at least 20 shops at Chowdhurypara. Nazrul and his associates left the area. Mobarak filed a false case accusing 16 men, including Nazrul. On April 27, he went to appear before a court from where he was abducted.
Nazrul had sought help of local political leaders two months back to solve the case, but he failed. He sensed that something wrong was going to happen.
“So, he along with more than 50 followers went to the court. But, he could not escape abduction,” said Selina over phone.
