BNP forms probe committee over Mitford murder

BNP on Monday formed an investigation committee to probe the recent murder of a scrap trader in Old Dhaka’s Mitford area.

“There are reasons to suspect that this murder is being used for political gain and that such an incident is being used as an excuse at the instigation of certain quarters to disrupt the atmosphere of the upcoming national elections,” said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office on Monday, he said the committee would reveal the actual facts to the public.

Fakhrul added, there are many reasons to believe that the Mitford murder is being deliberately used to create unrest in the country and to implement evil political motives.

“To dig out the facts behind this brutal murder, we have decided to form an investigation and fact-finding committee comprising appropriate persons, who will reveal the actual facts and make them public,” Fakhrul said.

He said they have arranged the press conference in response to a recent tragic and unexpected incident, particularly due to a deliberate attempt to distort the narrative and unjustly use it as part of a malicious campaign to tarnish the image of the country’s largest political party and its top leader, Tarique Rahman, and to register the party’s strong protest.

Fakhrul said despite the absence of any evidence proving direct involvement or presence at the scene, the party has taken the highest organisational action-lifetime expulsion-against those named in the police complaint, in line with party discipline.

Lal Chand alias Sohag, a 39-year-old scrap trader in Old Dhaka, was hit with large chunks of concrete and beaten to death on Wednesday (July 9) in broad daylight in front of Mitford Hospital.

The BNP leader said the victim’s family has already raised concerns about inconsistencies in the case statement.

According to the family, he said, the names of three people were included in the report in place of the actual perpetrators, even though they have no complaints against those named.

Regrettably, Fakhrul said, the real culprits directly involved in the brutal killing have not yet been identified, let alone arrested, and the law enforcement agencies have so far failed to reveal their names or identities.

“Despite such a firm party position, a certain vested quarter is systematically showing the audacity to defame the party and malign its top leadership by attacking their character,” Fakhrul said.