Jubo Dal man killed in ‘gunfight’: Plea to file case against 4 policemen after 5yrs

A petition has been filed with a district court to lodge a murder case against four police officials over the killing of a local Jubo Dal leader in a gunfight in Noakhali five years ago.

Huda Mohammad Alam, the then joint convener of Jubo Dal's Alyearpur union unit in Begumganj upazila, was killed in a reported shootout with police on 23 August 2017.

The victim's wife Khursida Begum Pushpa submitted the plea with Noakhali District and Sessions Judge's Court on Sunday afternoon, accusing the then district Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Ilias Sharif, Additional Superintendent of Police (Begumganj Circle) Md Shahjahan Sheikh, Begumganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Sajedur Rahman Sajid, and Sub-Inspector Jasim Uddin of murder in name of a gunfight.

According to court sources, although the court has accepted the plaintiff's application to file the case, it has not yet been taken into consideration.

District and Sessions Judge Nilufar Sultana, however, recorded the petitioner's statement in the court. But the court did not issue any order. 

Advocate Mahfuzur Rahman Elias and Advocate Saifur Rahman Pramanik of the Supreme Court submitted the petition in court on behalf of the plaintiff Khursida Begum.

Advocate Mahfuzur Rahman told The Business Standard, "The Jubo Dal leader Alam was active in his party's politics. A local vested quarter in collusion with these four police officers killed him in the name of a gunfight."

"But Alam's family did not dare to take any legal action as the police officers were posted in Noakhali for a long time after the killing. Hoping to get justice for her husband's murder, Khurshida is now filing the case as the police officers have been transferred to other districts," the lawyer added. 

After the death of Alam, son of Abul Kashem of Dhitpur village in Begumganj, in an alleged gunfight, the police at that time claimed that five on-duty policemen were injured in the exchange of fire with Alam and his associates. 

Police also said a pistol, a pipe gun, three daggers, and a grill cutter were seized from the spot where the shootout took place. 

According to Begumganj police, Alam was accused in 10 robbery cases. He was also an active member of the then-terrorist group Jisan Bahini of Chandraganj.

However, the victim's family alleged that on the morning of 22 August 2017, a group of policemen in plainclothes picked Alam up from his house and killed him in a staged gunfight the next day.