No headway in Narsingdi mayor killing case

Naja, the only daughter of slain Narsingdi mayor Lokman Hussain, shows a portrait of her father at their residence on Saturday. She presented it to the two-time gold medallist father as the best mayorStaff Correspondent

Police could not make any headway in the case of Narsingdi Municipality Mayor Lokman Hussain even after four days of his killing.

On the other hand, Salahuddin Ahmed Bachchu, younger brother of Post and Telecommunications Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, on Saturday denied his involvement in the killing of Lokman.

The law enforcers failed to arrest any of the accused in the political sensitive case as of Saturday.

Sources at Detective Branch (DB) of police, which is investigation the sensational murder case, said the law enforcers were working to unearth the motive behind the killing taking into account various aspects.

?We are yet to arrest any of the accused who are on the run despite our ceaseless efforts,? said DB inspector in Narsingdi Mamunur Rashid Mondal, also investigation officer of the case.

According to sources, Lokman, who was also the general secretary of ruling Awami League?s Narsingdi municipality unit, had been at loggerheads with some influential persons of the district, apparently over political issue.

He had an intense rivalry with former chairman of the municipality Abdul Matin Sarker who was also defeated by Lokman in the last mayoral elections.

Besides, the slain mayor had taken over a piece of land leased out to Ashraf Sarker, younger brother of Matin, for establishing a water treatment plant for the municipality, stoking animosity against him among the Sarkar family.

Lokman was a candidate for the post of general secretary in the next district Awami League committee. Salahuddin Ahmed Bachchu was also eyeing the post.

Bachchu was named as the prime accused in the murder case which was transferred to DB on Friday.

Complainant of the case Mohammad Qamruzzaman, brother of slain Lokman Hussain, on Saturday said the DB officials were frequently communicating with their family.

He, however, neither expressed his dismay nor satisfaction with the development in the enquiry. ?We are awaiting the killers to be arrested,? he said.

Responding to a query, Qamruzzaman said they fear that the real culprits, who have close relations with a cabinet minister, may not be brought to book.

?We want to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to inform her of the facts so that none can dare to influence the investigation,? he said.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of Narsingdi police super Dr Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan and transfer of additional SPs Enamul Ahmed and Bijoy Boshak have taken a lot of flak from different quarters.

The killing of Lokman is being widely seen as yet another proof of the criminalisation of politics.

Many also regard it as the politicisation of crime.

Even before filing of any case in connection with the murder, district unit president of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party Khairul Kabir Khokon and a few other BNP activists were detained suspecting their involvement in the killing.

But they were not made accused in the case later field in connection with the killing of Narsingdi mayor.

The plaintiff named people, mostly local leaders and supporters of Awami League and close to the telecommunications minister, including his brother and assistant private secretary, as accused in the case.

So far, six people, including Khokon, have been picked up for interrogation, police said.

According to the case statement, the accused, include Bachchu, Matin, Mobarak Hossain, deputy publicity secretary of district AL, Montazuddin Bhuiya, president of town AL, Nurul Islam, sadar upazila BNP general secretary, Tareq Ahmed, district BNP leader, Masudur Rahman Murad, APS to Raju, Mia Md Manjur, former vice president of Narsingdi Government College Student Union, and Asraf Hossain Sarker, president of town unit of Jubo League.

In a statement on Saturday, Bachchu said he has been implicated in a false case as part of a conspiracy against him. ?I was in no way involved in the killing of Lokman and the allegation brought against me is false and motivated.?

Bachchu also condemned and protested the killing of the Narsingdi mayor and demanded exemplary punishment to the killers.

?I have never expressed willingness to vie for the post of secretary general in the council of district Awami League,? the post and telecommunications minister?s brother said, adding that the issue of political feud with Lokman was fabricated and motivated.

He expressed his deep sympathy to the bereaved family members and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.

Source: daily-sun.com

Read More on prothom alo news

Graft, politics killing NU slowly

If a prize is announced for the worst administered university in Bangladesh, National University is sure to bag it.

Gross irregularities, mismanagement, ?session jam? and outdated curricula are threatening the very existence of a university funded by taxpayers? money. At stake is the future of thousands of students.

Countless young men and women who make the mistake of getting admitted to colleges affiliated to NU spend many more years on the campus than they should because examinations are never held on time and results make it to the notice board after ages!

The long delay in holding of examinations and publication of results is hurting students where it hurts most: jobs.

The first-year honours admission procedures will face a major setback this month for acute manpower shortages. The projected annual student intake of the university is 0.35 million. As many as 807 staff and officials, recruited during the tenure of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government, were sacked as per a High Court directive on September 11.

The NU authorities had to witness the same situation during the BNP rule as the officials and staff loyal to the then opposition party ? Awami League ? were sacked or made officers on special duty.

Allegations are there that a section of officials, loyal to the ruling party, are engaged in the leakage of question papers.

The students, who fail

to gain their admissions to the universities of their choices, enrol themselves at NU, the country?s largest higher education providing institution.

But they have to wait year after year to pursue higher education, wasting valuable time. Even, a huge amount of money is spent unnecessarily for a long delay in getting their cherished degrees per year.

?I am sitting for the first-year examinations at the time when I was supposed to enter 3rd year of the honours course. Like me, all the students are facing the same fate,? said Fuad, a Dhaka college student.

When contacted, Prof Serajul Islam Chowdhury said universities should introduce job-oriented subjects to beat the rising rates of unemployment among educated youths.

National University produces a huge number of educated unemployed who lack quality as well, he told daily sun. ?NU needs to be reorganised. It should incorporate market-oriented subjects.?

According to a recent UGC report, both NU and Open University provided a staggering 300,072 degrees among students last year while the other 30 universities provided 48,502 degrees.

Not the session jam only, but outdated curricula, negligence of the authorities and corruption in the administration are leaving thousands of students in an uncertain future.

NU started a three-year pass (degree) course instead of two years in a bid to enhance its competitiveness in the job market, but the extension rather worsened students? sufferings instead of adding any value to the degree for huge time consumption.

Sources said most of the sacked staff were from computer unit and ICT department of the university for their alleged involvement in corruption.

Several hundred students regularly fall prey to the corrupt officials of the university in Gazipur. Without greasing the officials? palms, no work is completed properly, said a student who preferred not to be named.

When contacted, a highly-placed source told insincerity on the part of the university staff is responsible for their failure to hold examinations and publish results in time.

There are also some complexities in the exam and result processes, he said, adding that lack of skilled manpower shortage is also a reason behind session jam.

Lax management, lengthy examination schedules, tremendous pressure on the government press and negligence of a section of teachers and employees also lead to session jam.

NU Pro-VC Prof. Tofail Ahmad Chowdhury said, ?We are trying to address an acute manpower shortage. If necessary, we will take technical support as we are planning to set up a powerful server with latest software.?

Academic as well as administrative activities of six regional centres of the university at six divisional headquarters are in progress, he added.

Source: daily-sun.com

Read More on prothom alo news