A grocery shop owner named Somes Uddin, who died of a heart attack in the Radhakrishnapur area of Rangpur city, has been posthumously labelled a July uprising hero and a martyr, leading to the filing of a murder case 10 months after his death.
Allegations have also surfaced that Tk10 lakh was withdrawn in fixed deposit benefits and an additional Tk5 lakh was received from the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation by falsely portraying him as a national hero.
Moreover, Somes Uddin’s wife Amena Begum and son Ashiqur Rahman have admitted that he died of a heart attack while being chased by police.
They said that the case was filed based on police instructions and claimed they were unaware of who have been named in the case, claiming they only signed documents presented to them.
According to locals, on August 2, during the last days of the July uprising, Somes was sitting in his shop, adjacent to his home, when police arrived in the area to arrest local Jamaat leader Haji Nasir Uddin.
Alarmed, Somes Uddin fled his shop and collapsed on the road shortly after. He was rushed by locals and family members to the nearby Prime Medical College Hospital, where doctors confirmed he had died of a heart attack.
Despite this, 10 months later came the filing of a murder case, presenting the incident as a brutal killing near the Nazirhat area.
The case claims he was hacked to death, although no post-mortem was conducted at the time of his death, and there has been no initiative by police to exhume the body for autopsy.
A plaque at his grave reads: "National hero Somes Uddin. On August 2, 2024, a police team entered his home. Upon seeing them, he ran, fell, and died of a stroke on the spot. This was confirmed by doctors from Prime Medical College."
The case (No 2, dated 03.06.25) was filed at Rangpur’s Hazirhat police station under several penal code sections, including 143, 148, 341, 323, 325, 326, 302, 506, 114, and 109. The plaintiff is Amena Begum, Somes’s widow.
The complaint names 54 individuals, with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader listed as the key accused. The rest include local Awami League and affiliate organization leaders, and even the vice president of the BNP unit of their ward, Zainal Abedin.
In the case statement, Amena alleges that Hasina and Quader of the “fascist government” ordered the suppression of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which would later turn into an uprising.
Following this, the local police in Rangpur, the deputy commissioner, and identified activists from the Awami League, and its affiliated bodies launched an attack around 6pm on August 2, 2024, near her home in Radhakrishnapur under Hazirhat police station, the case documents read.
She says the accused called Somes out of his grocery shop. Sensing danger, he tried to flee but was attacked with sharp weapons. He collapsed in critical condition. The attackers and police reportedly left without offering help.
Amena claims that the attackers said: “We have taught your husband a lesson for joining Jamaat-Shibir and the anti-government movement.”
Locals and relatives took him to Prime Medical College Hospital, where he was declared dead at 8pm. His body was later brought home in an unidentified ambulance.
She says the body bore stab wounds, including to the back of the head.
His funeral was led by the Nazirhat mosque’s imam, Mominul Islam.
Amena explained the 10-month delay in filing the case was due to fear of the police and the time needed to gather documents.
After the case was filed, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Hazirhat police station, Abdul Al Mamun Shah, personally recorded the case and assumed responsibility as the investigating officer.
However, Amena told Dhaka Tribune recently that on August 2, police came to arrest her husband, prompting him to flee. “He collapsed and was declared dead at the hospital. There were no injury marks on his body,” she said.
When asked why she filed the murder case, she replied that police summoned her and asked her to sign some papers. She also claimed she did not personally name anyone in the murder case.
Her son Ashiqur Rahman, who was out of town at the time of the incident, corroborated that his father had died of a heart attack while trying to escape from police. He demanded that those who caused panic be brought to justice, but admitted his father died of natural causes.
Meanwhile, local Jamaat leader Haji Nasir Uddin, who was the apparent target of the police raid, said: “Police came to arrest me. Somes was not involved, but he panicked and collapsed. He was never a political figure.”
He added: “How can someone who died of a heart attack be declared a national hero and receive Tk15 lakh in compensation? This is fabricated, and innocent people are now being implicated in a false murder case.”
Relatives of the accused, including family members of Mehedi Hasan and Akhtarul Islam, also claimed that turning a natural death into a murder case and involving innocent locals is a serious injustice.
BNP Rangpur metropolitan Convener Shamsuzzaman Shamu said: “It is unbelievable that someone who died of a heart attack is being portrayed as a martyr of the July uprising. Even Ward 28 BNP leader Zainal has been falsely named in this case.”
He questioned: “Where is the post-mortem report? Why has no autopsy been conducted even after filing a murder case 10 months later?”
He believes the entire incident should be thoroughly investigated.
Ward 28 BNP President Alamgir said he personally visited Hazirhat police station and questioned the OC about the case.
“I asked how a heart attack death could be framed as murder. The OC had no clear answer. They are using this as a tool to harass innocent people,” he said.
Local mosque imam Mominul Islam, who had led the funeral prayer, said: “I saw no signs of injury. Everyone said he died of a heart attack.”
Residents like Shariful and Almas Ali expressed disbelief, demanding a thorough investigation.
When contacted, Hazirhat police station OC Abdul Al Mamun Shah declined to speak on record after keeping this correspondent waiting for two hours.
Later, over the phone, he was asked why a murder case was recorded without a post-mortem or forensic evidence.
He repeatedly responded: “Speak to the higher authorities.”
He did not answer questions regarding the plaintiff’s claims that she was unaware of the case details and signed papers at the police’s request.
