Four days have passed since a pir was beaten to death in a mob attack in Daulatpur, Kushtia, but law enforcement agencies have yet to make any arrests, police officials said on Wednesday.
A case has been filed over the murder of Pir Abdur Rahman Shamim alias Jahangir (65) naming four individuals, including the former president of district Chhatra Shibir and Rokan Khaja Ahmed of Daulatpur upazila Jamaat.
The other three accused named in the case are local Jamaat activist Rajib Mistri, Khilafat Majlis upazila president Asaduzzaman Asad (45), and Safi, a teacher at a madrasa in the Abeder Ghat area.
Protesting the involvement of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists in the killing, the Kushtia district unit of the party held a press conference on Wednesday, demanding an immediate, fair and impartial investigation and the removal of their leaders’ names from the case.
Daulatpur upazila Jamaat Ameer Belal Uddin said, “Many names may come up in the case. However, no one from our party is involved in this incident. We will contest the allegations legally.”
Kushtia Additional Superintendent of Police (Bheramara Circle) Delwar Hossain said, “No arrests have been possible in this case so far. Everyone has fled the area and gone into hiding since the incident. However, police are making every effort to arrest the accused.”
The case was filed on Monday night by the victim’s brother, retired school teacher Fazlur Rahman, naming four individuals and 180-200 unidentified accused at Daulatpur Police Station.
The case statement that the attack and vandalism at the shrine caused damage worth approximately Tk20 lakh. Additionally, the accused broke a steel cupboard and stole Tk10 lakh and 4 bhori of gold ornaments.
Main accused Khaja Ahmed claimed, “The deceased was an elder cousin of mine. At his brother’s instruction, I went to retrieve the body. I spoke with police multiple times on the day of the incident. Despite this, I have been made the main accused.”
He alleged that top leaders of union BNP, Jubo Dal, and Swechchhasebak Dal were present at the scene but none of their names appear in the case statement.
On Saturday, an old video from several years ago containing remarks deemed blasphemous spread on social media, prompting a mob of several hundred people to attack the shrine in Philipnagar, killing the shrine’s pir and injuring three of his followers.
The shrine was subsequently vandalised and set on fire, with allegations of looting valuable assets.
