Assertive and outspoken nature of slain Chittagong BCL leader Sudipto Biswas might have angered a section of party leaders who could be behind his killing, said several of his colleagues.

Sudipto, an assistant general secretary of Chittagong city unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), a pro-Awami League student organisation, was beaten to death in the city on Friday.

His outspoken remarks about the party and its leaders, both present and former, from Chittagong Government City College (CGCC) might have led to his death, the fellow party activists speculated.

Sudipto completed his masters two years ago from CGCC.

His father Babul Biswas filed a case yesterday with Sadarghat Police Station against seven to eight unknown people over Sudipto's killing, said Marjina Akter, officer-in-charge of the station.

They are yet to make any arrest in the case, she added.

Wahed Russell, joint general secretary of BCL's Chittagong city unit, said he had been reading Sudipto's Facebook posts on a regular basis.

“He was a bright student and was outspoken… he might have been a victim of intra-party feud in his college,” he said.

The general secretary of the same unit, Nurul Ajim Rony, said, “It is my personal observation that Sudipto's outspokenness and his criticism against the activities of some former BCL leaders might have made a section of former BCL leaders upset at him.”

“Sudipto was a victim of conflict among the seniors,” he said without mentioning any name. “The former leaders are using the present leaders and activists for their own interest.”

On October 3, Sudipto wrote about BCL leaders on his Facebook: “We didn't see many of them on the streets after the 1/11… Oh sorry! It is wrong to say this.”

The next day, just a couple of days prior to his death, in another post he said a leader without his or her activists does not have any meaning -- just like a king without his subjects. “Activists should rise up to achieve something new.”

In an earlier post, on September 14, he said, “To the powerful: you can repress the juniors, but if the juniors counteract, your prestige will vanish beyond the Himalayas.”

On September 27, he said on Facebook that over the last twelve to thirteen years, none of the BCL leaders cared for the activists who had suffered severe financial hardship. But the same leaders, with their boastful talks, were now making him laugh.

In a September 6 post, Sudipto demanded election to the college students' union as an election is mandatory for ensuring constructive politics.  

Regarding Sudipto's killing, Chittagong city BCL general secretary Nurul Ajim Rony said the ones who took part in the killing mission were professional killers, based in the city's Lalkhan Bazar area. “They were hired.”

“It is really unfortunate that a promising student leader has been murdered only for his constructive criticism,” he said, adding, “We want to come out of this type of [negative] politics.”

Rony also claimed that only half-an-hour prior to the killing of Sudipto, the same group of killers made an attempt to get another BCL leader of CGCC out of his house. 

He escaped the same fate as Sudipto's “as he refused to come out of the house,” he claimed.

Marjina Akter, the OC of Sadarghat Police Station, however, said no one filed any complaint with them in this regard.

Contacted, Chittagong city BCL President Imran Ahmed Imu demanded arrest and punishment of the killers of Sudipto.