Govt carrying out secret killings to gag opposition voice: Fakhrul
Friday, 16 December 2011
Local BNP has called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown in Jessore district for Saturday to protest against the death of the district unit's finance secretary Nazmul Islam after he went missing Wednesday night, reports bdnews24.com.
BNP standing committee member and former minister Tariqul Islam declared the protest from a news conference at Jessore Press Club Thursday noon.
The 45-year old Nazmul Islam, also the chief of Jhikargachha Thana unit in the district, went missing Wednesday night on his way back to his residence in Dhanmondi from a wedding programme. His body was found lying alongside the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway Thursday morning.
His cousin Kallol identified the body and told journalists that even though Nazmul was an activist of Jessore BNP, he resided in Dhaka with his family as he had a business here.
Kallol added that Nazmul spoke for the last time over a phone with another Jessore BNP leader TH Ayub around 11:45 pm. He had told Ayub that he was being abducted. Ayub filed a general diary in the night.
"We found signs of balm applied to his eyes and he was strangled to death. There was a towel wrapped around his neck," Gazipur's additional superintendent of police Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said.
Jessore BNP has postponed most of its programmes planned to mark the Victory Day on Dec 16 following the death. Party leaders said that they would only place floral wreaths at Jessore Shaheed Minar to mark the day.
Meanwhile, the news of Nazmul Islam death has sparked unrest among local BNP leaders and the district BNP, its student and youth wings took out protest processions.
Another UNB report adds: Denouncing the killing of its activist Nazmul, BNP Thursday alleged that the government is indiscriminately carrying out secret killings in a bid to foil the ongoing protests against its 'misrule and misdeeds,'
The central BNP also extended support to December 17 dawn-to-dusk hartal in Jessore called by the local BNP protesting the killing of Nazmul Islam, president of the party's Jhikargachha unit.