Former chairman of Birulia Union Parishad in Savar, Saidur Rahman Sujon (45), committed suicide at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj by hanging himself with a gamcha (a traditional washing cloth, usually used as a towel). He had been imprisoned in connection with multiple cases related to the student-led July uprising. Inspector Md Faruk of Dhaka Medical College Police Camp confirmed the death.
On Sunday, at around 11am, Sujon hanged himself with a gamcha in a room of the jail’s Shurjomukhi building, where he had been lodged during imprisonment. He was immediately taken to the prison hospital and later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where doctors declared him dead at 12:30pm.
The suicide came about mere days after Sujon’s mother had passed away.
Inspector General of Prisons Brigadier General Syed Md Motahar Hossain said, “He had breakfast in the morning. Of the three inmates in the cell, one was in court and another was asleep. Seizing this opportunity, Sujon tied the gamcha to a window and hanged himself.”
The prison IG added that a committee will be investigating the suicide.
According to Savar Police, Sujon had 15 cases against him, including one at the International Crimes Tribunal. In the third week of January, a detective team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested him during a raid at a flat in Uttara.