Father of four-year-old Jihad, who died falling into an abandoned deep tube-well at Shahjahanpur railway colony in December 2014, has been under constant threats to withdraw the case he had filed against railway officials for negligence.
Nasir Uddin Fakir was earlier threatened by the two prime accused and their men. But now the ruling party-backed councillor of ward 11, Hamidul Haque Shamim, has joined hands with the accused.
Shamim called Nasir at his office on Tuesday night through prime accused Jahangir Alam, a senior sub-assistant engineer of Bangladesh Railway now on bail, and asked him to settle the case in presence of his supporters and all the accused. As Nasir refused to do so, Shamim and his men forcefully took his signature on a blank paper.
The ward councillor also assured him of giving Tk5-6 lakh, but warned that he should not disclose the matter to anyone, said Nasir, who is a security guard at Motijheel Model School and College.
He then informed the matter to the second investigation officer in the case, DB Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman, who suggested that he file a general diary with Shahjahanpur police. But Nasir was obstructed by the councillor’s supporters on the way to the police station on Wednesday and threatened not to do so.
When contacted, both Shamim and Jahangir refuted the allegation of intimidating Nasir.
Councillor Shamim said: “Basically, Jihad’s father wants to settle the matter and he sat with the accused at my office. “I did not take his signature forcefully,” he claimed.
On the other hand, Jahangir claimed that the councillor had initiated a meeting since Jihad’s father wanted to settle the case.
The body of Jihad was pulled out of the 17-inch diameter abandoned shaft on December 27, 2014 – around 15 minutes after fire officials called off a nearly 23-hour search. Jihad fell into the pipe, some 40 yards from his house, while playing with his friends.
Later Nasir filed a case with Shahjahanpur police against seven to eight men naming railway official Jahangir and contractor Abdus Salam, owner of JSR House that installed the tube-well.
On April 17 last year, Inspector Abu Zafar of Shahjahanpur police submitted charge sheet against the duo accusing them of negligence in performing their duties properly. In legal terms it is culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Nasir filed a no-confidence petition with the court on April 21 alleging that the IO had deliberately dropped the names of several accused – Abu Zafar, Saiful Islam, Dipak Babu and Nasir Uddin – to divert the course of the lawsuit.
In the mean time, Salam was granted bail on April 26 while Jahangir on May 21.
After a hearing on the petition, a Dhaka court on June 4 directed the Detective Branch of police to assign an inspector-level officer to re-investigate the case and submit a report by July 6. But the investigating officer failed to comply with the order and sought time on several occasions.
Asked about the progress in the investigation, SI Mizanur Rahman said that he was informed about Nasir being threatened by the accused and the ward councillor. “I asked him [Nasir] to file a GD with the police over the matter.
“I have almost completed the investigation and hope to submit the report before the court later this month,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
