Probe killing of Akram properly

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque yesterday reiterated demands for proper investigation into the killing of Teknaf's ward councillor Akramul Haque, after visiting the councillor's residence at Kaubkhali, Teknaf upazila, at around 2:30pm, our Cox's Bazar correspondent reports.

“I have heard the audio clips which are thought to be linked to the murder of Akramul,” Reazul told the media, after wrapping up his visit. “The commission has already urged the government to investigate the incident properly and now I want to reiterate our call.”

During his half-hour long visit, the national rights body chief talked to Akramul's 80-year-old mother Hafeza Begum, who stressed that her son had never been involved in the drug trade.

Teknaf poura councillor Akramul Haque was killed in what Rab claimed was a gunfight between the elite force and drug dealers in Cox's Bazar on May 27.

Akram's wife, Ayesha Begum, however, alleged at a press conference at Cox's Bazar Press Club on May 31 that her husband was murdered in cold blood.

In support of her claim, she gave journalists four unverified audio clips of chilling conversations between her and her husband just before the killing.

The Rapid Action Battalion refuted the allegation.

However, the audio recording caught the nation by storm and the councillor's death during the state-sponsored drive against drugs raised some serious questions.

Human rights defenders and activists decried the incident as hard proof of extrajudicial killing and demanded proper investigation into the death.

Regarding the alarmingly high death toll in the anti-narcotics drive, already at 160 and climbing regularly, the NHRC chairman said, “We want a drive against narcotics, but we are against any extra-judicial killing.”

He said the commission was drafting a guideline on conducting drives for the law enforcers, adding they would hand it over upon completion.

Akramul's wife Ayesha, who is now in Chittagong, said she was not informed about the NHRC chairman's visit.

Talking to The Daily Star over phone, she said she had been living with her two daughters at a rented house in Chittagong.

“There is no one to look after us. My family was dependent on my husband. Where will I now go with my two daughters?” Ayesha said.

She said they were supposed to get calls from the high-ups of the government after Eid-ul-Fitr, but no one had communicated with her yet.

Claiming that her husband was innocent, Ayesha said, “He was devoted to Jubo League and Chhatra League. What benefit did we get from being loyal to Awami league?”

Ayesha added that her two daughters -- Tahiyat and Nahiyan -- were traumatised and being treated by doctors in Chittagong, who recommended professional counselling for them.

“They are traumatised. They still cry for their father. I am so worried,” she said.

Ayesha said her husband had never been involved in the yaba trade and claimed “those who are involved, are not held.”

Thanking the media for its role, Ayesha told The Daily Star, “You [journalists] wrote and people have read. They [people] have already done half the justice for my husband.”

On June 3, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said officials were looking into the audio clips provided by Akram's wife to reporters. A team led by a magistrate was looking into it, he added.

Rab also formed a probe committee to investigate the matter.

Though Teknaf Awami League raised their voice over the killing, an emergency meeting to discuss the matter was cancelled after instructions from AL high-ups in Dhaka, who feared that the government's image might be tainted if Akram's killings and local AL MP Abdur Rahman Bodi's role, among others, in it were discussed in the meeting.

The AL high-ups instead assured the Teknaf upazila AL leaders that they would be called to Dhaka to discuss the killing with the prime minister after her return from Canada on June 12.

But no initiative has been taken so far in this regard, leaders of Teknaf upazila AL said.