The trial of Nur Hossain, local Awami League leader and prime accused in the seven-murder case in Narayanganj, is to begin soon. He was brought back from India on Thursday night. The ministries of law and home affairs have started the process to send Nur Hossain’s case to the Speedy Trial Tribunal (STT) so that it is disposed of quickly. Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The Independent that the government favours a speedy trial and a formal decision will be taken today (Saturday). He said the matter now lies with the law ministry as the chargesheet in the case has been submitted before the court. The investigating officer (IO) of the case, Inspector  Mamunur Rashid of the Detective Branch of Narayanganj police, told this correspondent that the district law and order committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner of the district, has to call a meeting to recommend that the case be sent to the STT. “There is no option of submitting a supplementary chargesheet, as the court has already accepted the chargesheet in the case,” he said. What is uppermost in the minds of people is that the masterminds behind the killings would remain untouched if the police do not interrogate Nur Hossain to learn about it.
However, there is a way out. If the IO applies to the higher court seeking to submit a supplementary chargesheet against Nur Hossain, the police can take him into remand for questioning, Narayanganj district police sources said.
Reacting to Nur Hossain’s deportation from India, Selina Islam Beauty, wife of slain councillor Nazrul Islam, said: “The authorities, particularly the police, should interrogate the prime accused to identify the masterminds of the killings.” She claimed that the investigating officer did not mention the names of the masterminds in the chargesheet.
The IO had submitted the chargesheet before the court naming 35, including three former RAB officers, in April this year. Beauty, however, filed a no-confidence petition against the chargesheet, as it had dropped the names of some of the accused. The court, however, rejected her petition. After the killings, the High Court asked the government to form a panel to investigate the alleged involvement of RAB officers on May 5. A seven-member committee, headed by additional secretary Shahjahan Ali Mollah, was formed.
The committee probing the seven-murder case found direct involvement of three former RAB-11 officers —- Lt Col (retd) Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj (retd) Arif Hossain and Lt Com (retd) SM Masud Rana. The investigation report was submitted to the High Court by the Attorney General. Narayanganj City Corporation’s panel mayor, Nazrul Islam, advocate Chandan Sarkar and five others were abducted on April 27. Their bodies surfaced in the Shitalakhya river three days later. According to the autopsy report, the seven were murdered by professionals. Nazrul Islam’s father-in-law later alleged that three RAB officers had been hired for Tk. 6 crore to abduct and kill the seven people. Nur Hossain, an Awami League leader and Narayanganj ward councillor, managed to flee to Kolkata after the killings.