2014 Narayanganj 7 murder: Justice eludes victim families

Even after a decade into the sensational seven-murder in Narayanganj, the families of the victims continue to wait for justice, as the case trial drags on.

The seven people, including the then Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were abducted from Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road on April 27, 2014.

Three days later, their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River.

Their family members have been frustrated as appeals filed by death-row convicts, including Awami League leader Nur Hossain and the then commanding officer of Rab-11 Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, remained pending for hearing with the Appellate Division for five years.

“I want to see the punishment of the murderers before my death but this seems uncertain as a decade has passed and the High Court verdict is yet to be executed,” said freedom fighter Haider Ali Khan, 80, father of one of the victims, Moniruzzaman Swapan.

Swapan’s brother, NCC Councillor Mizanur Rahman Khan, said, “Around this time every year, my parents fall ill, mourning for their lost son. On April 20, my father was admitted to the hospital after he broke down thinking about my brother. He can’t talk about him anymore. He only wants to hear that the culprits have been punished before his death.”

He also sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directive in expediting the case trial so that the verdict could be executed.

Jahangir Alam’s wife was pregnant when he was killed in April 2014.

His daughter, Roza, who was born a month after his death, knows him only from his photos.

“I always keep one of his photos with me. When I look at his photo, I feel like my father is with me,” said 10-year-old Roza in a choked voice, adding, “I want punishment for his killers.”

Selina Islam, wife of Nazrul Islam, said, “The court delivered the verdict, but the death sentence was not executed. The murderers are very influential. By abusing that influence, they are not allowing the judgment to be executed. However, I still have trust in the judiciary system.”

“As the convicts are so influential, we are still living in fear,” she added.

On January 16, 2017, Narayanganj District and Sessions’ Judge Court sentenced Nur Hossain and 25 Rab members, including Tareque Sayeed, major Arif Hossain, and lieutenant commander MM Masud Rana, to death in the case.

The trial court jailed nine others on different terms.

On August 22, 2017, the High Court upheld the death penalty for 15 convicts, including three former top Rab officials and the expelled Awami League leader Nur Hossain for their involvement in conspiracy, abduction, and murder.

The HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam, however, commuted the capital punishment of 11 others to life imprisonment.

All eleven had been sentenced to death by a Narayanganj court in the case.

The judges also upheld jail terms of nine others on various terms ranging from seven to 17 years.