HC orders to exhume body of Harris Chowdhury for DNA test

The High Court on Thursday directed authorities concerned to exhume the body of Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, for a DNA test to ensure his identity.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam passed the order following a writ petition filed by Harris Chowdhury’s daughter Samira Tanzina Chowdhury.

Barrister Mahdin Choudhury moved the plea before the court while deputy attorney general Redwan Ahmed Ranjib and Assistant Attorney General Mujahidul Islam Shaheen appeared for the state.

The High Court also issued a rule questioning why the authorities should not be directed to exhume the body buried under the name “Mahmudur Rahman” at the Jamia Khatamun Nabiyyin Madrasa Graveyard in Savar for DNA testing to confirm the identity, why a death certificate should not be issued in Harris Chowdhury’s name if the DNA test is positive, why the Interpol Red Notice against him should not be withdrawn, and why he should not be buried with due honor as a freedom fighter in his home district according to his last wishes.

The Home Secretary, Local Government Secretary, Registrar General (Births and Deaths), CID Director, Dhaka District Superintendent of Police and Savar Model Police Station OC have been asked to respond to the rule.

Earlier, in 2021, media reports stated that on September 4 of that year, Abul Harris Chowdhury, the former political secretary to Khaleda Zia and a former BNP leader, was buried under the name “Mahmudur Rahman” in a graveyard in the Jalalabad area of Savar, Dhaka.

Harris Chowdhury’s daughter alleged that the intelligence department of the recently outed government had created a drama questioning her father’s death.  But the darkness about his father’s death is not over.

“A writ has been issued to determine that there should never be any question about it,” she said.

“It is very shocking and painful as a child to have doubts about my father’s death. People still ask if he is really dead, and we are being harassed because of it. So, we turned to the court to put an end to this,” she said.