Staff Reporter :
The family members and locals have alleged that Teknaf Municipality’s Ward Councillor Ekramul Haque was killed on May 26 as per plan of an influential local lawmaker.
They termed the killing in ‘gunfight’ with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) as a drama, which has raised massive question among the mass people after getting viral of an audio on media recently.
The family members pointed their figures towards the elite forces as they mentioned the deceased’s father’s name misleadingly. The residence address of Ekramul was also incorrect, they said.
Seeking anonymity, some neighbours claimed that Ekramul has been killed by rented goons as per the plan of local MP centering prior enmity.
Six days after the killing of Ekramul, an upazila-level leader of the ruling Awami League was also killed. His wife Ayesha Begum held a press conference in Cox’s Bazar, where she claimed that her husband was killed in a cold blood, not in a gunfight as the security forces claimed.
“On the night of May 26, an official of a security force took him by force from our home. My daughter and I talked to him over phone after he left us. When we talked to him last, he was panicking. The phone call continued and gunshots and shouts were heard. It was then I realized that my husband was killed in cold blood,” she said.
“We don’t have much wealth, but our family was filled with happiness and joy. But today, we lost everything. My daughters have no one to call Abbu [father]. Their future is bleak.”
Terming it a planned killing, Akram’s wife Ayesha Begum demanded judicial probe into the incident. She urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to ensure justice for “the killing of one of her dedicated supporters.”
Ayesha also gave reporters a total of four audio clips that recorded terrifying conversations between Ekram and his wife and one of the daughters before he died in a hail of bullets. The audio recorded on a mobile phone also captured sounds of gunfire and groans of a dying man.
As the groaning continued for a while, Ekramul’s wife and two daughters on the other side of the phone screamed and begged for his life, saying he was innocent, according to one of the clips. Ayesha claimed that the conversations were recorded when Ekramul was brutally shot dead.
However, it could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clips. Ashraful Islam, the younger brother of Ekramul, said, “We cannot console his two daughters (eight grader and sixth grader). Their father brought them up with much affection and love. They are insisting on bringing back their father, but I cannot respond to their call.” Nurul Bashar, General Secretary of the Teknaf upazila chapter of Awami League, said: “I know Ekramul very well as we are associated with the same political party. We have been involved in Awami League for quite a long time.
“A three-time municipality councillor and an honest man, Ekramul always believed in the ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It’s unbelievable that he had been involved in drug peddling.”
Pressed to comment on the audio clips, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the media that they were looking into the allegations that Ekramul’s family raised.
“We are looking into the matter. If anyone is found guilty in the regard, he or she must face punishment. No one is above the law,” he said.
Echoing the Home Minister, Mufti Mahmud, director of the legal and media wing of RAB, said they, too, were investigating the allegations.
Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said, one or two mistakes can occur during the ongoing anti-narcotics drives.
Asked whether the death of Teknaf councillor Akramul Haque in crossfire has made the ongoing drives questionable, Quader said, “Not at all.”
Quader, also the Awami League general secretary, said “One or two mistakes can happen during this kind of drives.”
“I do not know whether an innocent person has been killed. The matter can be cleared only after investigation. Nothing can be said before investigation.”
Quader made the comment in reply to a query from reporters after he inaugurated a transport service “Dolanchapa” for females at Bangabandhu International Convention Center.
Earlier, Rapid Action Battalion claimed that Akram was killed in a “gunfight” between the elite force and drug dealers in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on May 26.
