"My brother, he was like a father figure to me. My brother asked me if I needed anything on Thursday evening, now he is no more."
These were the words of Tasila Akhter, the only sister of Shah Jalal Uddin, who lost his life in the Baily Road fire along with two of his family members on Thursday night.
Grief has taken over at Shah Jalal’s ancestral home in Ukhiya as preparations start for the burial of three family members - Revenue Officer Shah Jalal Uddin, 35, his wife Meherun Nessa Jahan Helali, 24, and their child Fairuz Kashem Jamira, 4, who were burned to death.
Shahjahan Sazu, eldest brother of Jalal Uddin, received the bodies from the mortuary of Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 9:30am on Saturday. He informed that the bodies were being taken to their village home.
Shah Jalal Uddin joined the customs sector in 2017. He was currently serving at the Pangaon customs house in Narayanganj.
The death of three people in the family has affected freedom fighter Dr Abul Kashem, father of Shah Jalal Uddin.
“Shah Jalal Uddin used to be particularly conscious about his father. They used to talk for at least four to five times a day,” said his cousin Jalal Uddin,
Shah Jalal Uddin spoke to his father for the last time at around 6pm on Thursday.
He was about to go on a trip to Khagrachhari with his family after meeting his in-laws.
“My father thought that he was in Khagrachhari with his family as there was no phone call from him,” said Hashem Bin Linkon, Shah Jalal’s younger brother.
He said that they came to know about his brother’s family’s demise when one of his brother’s colleagues informed them that the images of Shah Jalal’s wife and daughter were shown on social media as unidentified among the dead bodies of Bailey Road’s fire incident. After receiving the information, Meherun Nessa Jahan Helali’s father Engineer Mokter Hossein Helali went to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and identified the bodies.
Later, Shahjahan Sazu went there to receive the bodies.
Shah Jalal Uddin and his family members will be buried at the graveyard adjacent to Morichya Jame Masjid on Sunday.
