Fifteen days have passed without any arrests in the case filed over the murder of Abu Sayed, leading to growing frustration and anger among the victim's family and the teachers and students of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur.
The case was filed on August 18 by Abu Sayed's elder brother, Ramzan Ali. It named 17 individuals and mentioned an additional 30-35 unidentified persons. However, there are allegations that the names of at least 10 accused were removed from the FIR.
Despite the passage of over two weeks since the case was filed, the police have yet to make any progress in the investigation. Abu Sayed, a student, was shot and killed by the police during the quota reform protests on July 16.
Several university officials, staff members, and a teacher have been directly implicated in the incident. Videos showing some of these individuals wearing helmets and carrying sticks, as well as others allegedly complicit with the police in inciting the shooting, have gone viral on social media, causing widespread outrage.
A total of 17 people, including former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former deputy inspector general (DIG) of Rangpur range Abdul Baten, former commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police (RMP) Md Jahangir Alam are accused in the murder case.
Suspended assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Amir Hossain and constable Sujan Chandra Roy were also named in the case.
On August 10, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus met the family members of Abu Sayed. He offered prayers at the grave of Abu Sayed seeking divine blessings for his soul.
Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser Md Nahid Islam and Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan were accompanying the chief adviser.
On July 16, protesters marched five kilometres through the city to Begum Rokeya University, with Sayed joining them. Clashes erupted with quota supporters, and police fired rounds of rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Despite the chaos, Sayed stood firm, refusing to budge. At one point, he was shot in the chest and fell to the ground.
He was immediately taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, where the attending physician declared him dead.
