Freedom fighter Chullu laid to rest

Freedom fighter Masud Sadique Chullu, was laid to rest with state honour yesterday at the city’s Banani graveyard.

He died on Monday at Apollo Hospitals in the capital at the age of 72.

Masud, the younger brother of former education minister AHSK Sadique, left behind his wife Yasmeen Sadique, only daughter Sanjana Sadique and a host of relatives, admirers and well-wishers.

He was born on March 29, 1945, in Keshabpur of Jessore, Masud was only 26, a fresh science graduate from Dhaka College, when he joined Crack Platoon, a special commando team of the Mukti Bahini, created under Sector-2.

Valiant freedom fighters Shafi Imam Rumi, Bodiul Alam Bodi, Abdul Halim Chowdhury Jewel, Habibul Alam, Kazi Kamaluddin, Shahadat Chowdhury, Fateh Ali Chowdhury and Mofazzal Hosen Chowdhury Maya were some of the members of this famed platoon.

The guerrillas stunned the Pakistani authorities by organising multiple attacks on police checkpoints and electricity substations, highlighting the growing tension in the country.

However, on August 30, 1971, Masud was arrested in Dhaka where he was to carry out an operation, according to the book “Tormenting Seventy One: An account of Pakistan army's atrocities during Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971".

Fortunately enough, he was spared death as his elder brother was a key bureaucrat in the then-Pakistan government.

But his platoon members, including Bodi, Rumi, Jewel and Azad, were captured by Pakistani army a day before his arrest. Unfortunately, they never returned to their families.