Muchabbir Murder: Swecchasebak Dal threatens tough action
Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Swecchasebak Dal has warned of intensified protests if those responsible for the murder of its leader, Azizur Rahman Muchabbir, are not arrested within the next 24 hours. The warning came on Thursday as Muchabbir’s funeral prayer was held outside the BNP’s central office in Naya Paltan.
Senior Vice-President Yasin Ali and Vice-President Fakhrul Islam Robin of the BNP’s volunteer wing issued the ultimatum, announcing nationwide demonstrations for Saturday. “We demand the arrest of Muchabbir’s killers within the next 24 hours,” Robin said. “In support of this demand, we are announcing protest programmes across all cities and districts, including Dhaka metropolitan.
If the killers are not apprehended by then, the Swecchasebak Dal will announce a tougher programme.” Muchabbir was shot dead shortly after 8pm on Wednesday when unidentified gunmen opened fire in an alley beside the Ahsanullah Institute of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, adjacent to Hotel Superstar on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. Abu Sufian Bepari Masud, general secretary of the Van Workers’ Union under Tejgaon Thana, was also injured in the attack. Locals rushed both victims to BRB Hospital, where doctors declared Muchabbir dead.
Earlier on Thursday, Muchabbir’s wife, Suraiya Begum, filed a case at Tejgaon Police Station against unnamed suspects. She informed police that her husband had been receiving death threats in recent weeks.
After the Zuhr prayer, Muchabbir’s body was brought to the BNP’s central office, where party leaders and activists gathered for the Namaz-e-Janaza. BNP Joint Secretary General Habib Un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Swecchasebak Affairs Secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sopu, and other central leaders joined Yasin Ali and hundreds of activists in paying their respects.
Addressing the gathering, Sohel said: “Those involved in this murder must be arrested immediately and brought to justice.
The government has announced elections, and we welcomed the declaration of the date. But we see that the killers of Osman Sharif bin Hadi have not yet been arrested. Our colleagues have now issued a 24-hour ultimatum regarding Muchabbir’s murder. We expect the killers to be arrested within this timeframe; otherwise, we will assume a lack of sincerity or capability on the government’s part.”
Sarafat described Muchabbir as a “patriotic and courageous activist,” noting that he had been arrested multiple times under what he termed the “autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina” and had once been a victim of enforced disappearance.
Aminul Haque, convenor of the BNP’s Dhaka North unit, alleged that a vested quarter was orchestrating such killings to disrupt the election. “Muchabbir endured numerous cases and persecution but never left the streets. His murder, we believe, is part of a conspiracy to destabilise the country and sabotage the election. We must remain vigilant,” he said.
Muchabbir previously served as general secretary of the Swecchasebak Dal’s Dhaka North unit and had been a joint secretary of the organisation’s central committee. During the last Awami League government, he faced several arrests and periods of imprisonment.
Ibn-e-Mizan, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Tejgaon Division, confirmed that the victim’s wife had reported earlier death threats when filing the case.