It was around 6:15am when four police officers on night patrol at WASA intersection in Chattogram spotted three young men carrying machetes and knives, suspected of being muggers.
When signalled to stop, they fled.
Constable Md Al Amin Sardar, 25, mounted his motorcycle with team leader Assistant Sub-Inspector Md Hiron Mia riding pillion.
As they closed in, one suspect ran into the grounds of Jamiatul Falah Mosque through a side gate.
Al Amin dropped Hiron off to pursue on foot, then rode towards the western gate to cut off the suspect’s escape.
Moments later, tragedy struck.
A speeding minibus struck Al Amin’s motorcycle near the western gate on the Khulshi side.
The driver failed to stop immediately, dragging Al Amin and his vehicle nearly 100 metres along the road.
Colleagues rushed him to Chattogram Medical College Hospital with severe head and leg trauma alongside heavy blood loss, but he succumbed to his injuries at around 5:00am on Monday.
Police seized the minibus and arrested driver Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, 38, and helper Joy Das, 30.
Hiron lodged a case with Kotwali Police Station under the Road Transport Act against five individuals, including bus owner Mohammad Asaduzzaman.
Speaking to TIMES on Monday afternoon, Hiron was visibly shaken.
“This was my first duty with Al Amin, and it became our last,” he said. “Al Amin was an extremely polite, skilled, and prudent young man. Everyone who worked with him is devastated.”
At his family home in Uttar Dudhkhaly village, Madaripur, grief has overwhelmed his family.
His mother, Selina Begum, wept inconsolably, “My son became a police officer, and my chest swelled with pride. Now that chest of mine feels completely empty! I cannot bear to think how much pain my boy suffered before he died.”
Al Amin was the fifth of six brothers and one sister born to Abdul Haque Sardar.
Joining Bangladesh Police on 16 July 2022 to support his family through financial hardship, his income had become a vital lifeline for his household.
Recalling their final moments together, his father, Abdul Haque Sardar, said, “Al Amin came home on leave just a few days ago. On Friday, after Jummah prayers, he took a photograph with me. I had no idea it would be the last picture I would ever take with my son. Of all my seven children, Al Amin was the most gentle and polite.”
His sister, Halima, added, “We were so proud that my brother had become a policeman. We never knew Allah would take him away from us so soon.”
Tragically, Al Amin became a father just two and a half months before his death.
Holding her infant daughter, his wife, Ishrat Jahan Riya, cried out, “How am I supposed to go on living? Whose doorstep do I go to with my two-and-a-half-month-old girl? Who will my daughter call father? Oh Allah, what have you done to me at such a young age!”
Madaripur Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abul Kalam Azad described the incident as deeply tragic, “It is heartbreaking to lose a fellow officer in this manner. I pray for the departed soul and offer my deepest condolences to the grieving family.”
Following a funeral prayer with full honours at CMP headquarters at 11:00am on Monday, his body was transported to his village home in Madaripur, where he was laid to rest in the family graveyard following a final namaz-e-janaza at 10:00pm.
Al Amin’s death underscores growing concerns over street crime in Chattogram, where 1,506 cases involving robbery, mugging, and theft were recorded in the first six months of this year alone.
Authorities have identified 160 mugging-prone locations across the city, but despite heightened surveillance, street crime continues to pose a deadly hazard, claiming the life of a dedicated young officer.
