No case has been filed even 18 hours after the killing of Jagannath University (JnU) Md Jobayed Hossen, who police suspect was murdered over a love affair.
Police recovered Jobayed’s blood-soaked body from a staircase in a building at Armanitola in Old Dhaka on Sunday night. There were stab wounds on his neck.
He was a student of the 2019-20 academic session in JnU’s Department of Statistics and a member of the convening committee of university unit of the BNP’s student wing, Chhatra Dal.
According to his classmates and police sources, Jobayed used to tutor a female higher secondary student in an apartment in that building. After recovering his body, police took the girl to Bangshal Police Station for questioning.
Family members of Jobayed said they had been trying to file a case since midnight on Sunday, but as of 11am Monday, no case had been registered.
Jobayed’s elder brother, Enayet Hossain Saikat, told the media, “We wanted to file a case against six people, including the girl. But the officer-in-charge (OC) of Bangshal Police Station advised us not to file against so many. He said if we name too many people, the case will lose strength.”
Contacted for comment, Bangshal Police Station OC Rafiqul Islam told the media, “We are ready to record the case. We will accept it against whomever the family names. We only asked the family to discuss the matter with university teachers before finalising their decision.”
A police officer from Bangshal, requesting anonymity, said the girl had been interrogated. “She said Jobayed had been tutoring her for about a year. She liked him, and at one point her boyfriend found out.
“The girl then broke off her relationship with her boyfriend, who became enraged and killed Jobayed on Sunday afternoon on the building’s third floor,” the officer said, adding that the boyfriend is a student of Bangladesh Open University and lives in Armanitola.
The officer further said more people might have been involved in the murder, as CCTV footage showed two suspects fleeing the scene.
Enayet Hossain told, “I demand justice for my brother’s killing. The case should be filed immediately, and the culprits arrested without delay.”
Following the murder, Jagannath University students staged a protest march on Sunday night. They rallied through Bahadur Shah Park, Shankharibazar intersection, Judge Court, and Ray Shaheb Bazar, before blocking the road at Tanti Bazar intersection.
Around 12:30am, the protesters burned tyres in front of Bangshal Police Station, where they stayed overnight and returned in the morning.
