56 charged with Ekram murder

Police yesterday submitted charge sheet against 56 people, including Awami League leaders Jahangir Kabir Adel and Ziaul Alam Mister, in the Ekramul Haq murder case of Feni.

Of the 56 charged, 55 belong to Awami League or its associated bodies and 27 of them are in jail.

Ruling party lawmaker and general secretary of Feni Awami League Nizam Uddin Hazari, who was widely believed to have had a hand in the murder of the Phulgazi upazila chairman, was not charged by the investigation officer of the case.

This has frustrated the family members and fans of Ekramul, who was also president of Phulgazi upazila Awami League and an archrival of Nizam.

Local BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Minar, the prime accused, was indicted yesterday.

Ekramul was shot and burnt to death in his car in Feni town in broad day light on May 20. The video of the brutal murder was captured on a mobile phone and then uploaded to the internet.

Ekram's wife Tasmin Akhter told journalists, “You all know who were involved in the murder and that those, including the mastermind, have not been charged. This charge sheet was submitted in haste.”

Talking to reporters, Rezaul Haq Jashim, brother of Ekram and plaintiff of the case, expressed frustration over not being informed about the submission of the charge sheet.

“As the plaintiff, I don't know anything about the completion of the investigation. Police did not tell me or any of our family members about the probe process or submission of the charge sheet. I learnt this from the media,” Jashim said.

After Ekram's murder, Nizam               had blamed local BNP for the             killing.

Two days after the killing,             Nizam, the Feni-2 MP, claimed that Jainal Hazari, former Awami                  League lawmaker of the same constituency, knew about the murder.                   Nizam had demanded that police          take Jainal on remand to find the culprits.

Awami League and Jubo League leaders had demonstrated against Nizam in Feni and Phulgazi then. They had demanded capital punishment for what they said was Nizam's involvement in the murder.

Dainik Hazarika, a daily newspaper owned by Jainal, had published a report two days before Ekram's murder.

The report said Ekram could get killed in the hands of Nizam's supporters and that “Nizam had taken control of everything” in Feni with blessings from Alauddin, an Awami League central leader.

Jainal later told journalists that the administration had become servile to Nizam and that it would do nothing against him.

About the report in his paper, he said the piece was based on solid information.

Yesterday, Inspector Abul Kalam Azad of Feni Model Police Station submitted the charge sheet before the district court.