Saiful came to Dhaka a week ago ‘looking for job’

Saying he would look for a job, Saiful Islam of Noyakathi village in Khulna's Dumuria upazila went to Dhaka just a week ago. But his family had been out of contact with him since Saturday as his phone was switched off.

Locals and family members said the 24-year-old was a political science student at Government BL College, Khulna. He studied at Ullah Mojidia Islamia Madrasa in the upazila and passed Dakhil exams in 2011.

Two years later, he completed Kamil from Khulna Alia Madrasa. He got admitted to BL College in 2014.

Some villagers said the family of Saiful, who died in the capital during an anti-terror drive yesterday, has connections with Jamaat-e-Islami.

Habil Hossain, officer-in-charge of Dumuria Police Station, said Saiful's father Abul Khayer Molla is the treasurer of Sahas union unit Jamaat. 

Visiting Nayakathi village, around 26 km off Khulna city, yesterday, this correspondent saw a huge crowd of people at Saiful'l house. After watching the news of his death on television, villagers and journalists gathered there.

His father is the imam of a local mosque and also an assistant of a marriage register. His mother Asma Begum is a speech-impaired person.

His two younger sisters, Irani and Tamanna, are students of a local madrasa. They were crying over the news of their brother's death.

Haidar Ali, a villager, told The Daily Star that Saiful was an introvert. He hardly came outside of home. The villagers didn't notice anything unusual in his behaviour.

Mozammel Hawlader, a fourth-year student of political science at BL College, said he also didn't notice any radical attitude in Saiful.

“He might have come in touch with some bad people very recently. He had never talked with me about fundamentalism or militant activities,” said Mozammel, who went to Saiful's home after receiving the news of his death from a friend.

Nizamul Hoque Mollah, superintendent of Khulna police, said they detained Saiful's father Abul Khayer and two of his son's friends yesterday for interrogation.

Later, they freed Khayer and asked him not to move to other places without informing police.