Staff Reporter :
One of the prime accused of gruesome killing of Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Razon, the 13-year old boy who was brutally tortured to death in Sylhet, was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The arrestee was identified as Kamrul Hasan, 24, brother of prime accused Muhit Alam of Sheikhpara village of Sylhet Sadar Upazila. The Bangladeshi expatriates nabbed him in Jeddah, an arrival fleeing from Bangladesh for involvement in killing of Razon.
They later handed over him to Saudi police, Bangladesh’s Ambassador in Saudi Arabia confirmed the news. The killing of Razon took place on July 8 early morning. It is not clear why the incident came to public so late.
It became public by social media when someone down loaded a 28 minute video of the gruesome killing. The disclosure led to a public outcry and raised question why it was so late for police to go into action.
In fact police recovered the body at mid-day as unknown victim. His father went to the local police station at night to file a missing case and identified the body of his son.
Kamrul left the country a day after the brutal incident of Razon’s killing. Khairul Fazal, an Inspector of the Immigration Police, said that Kamrul left the Sylhet Osmani International Airport for Saudi Arabia on July 9 at 2:00 pm through a flight of Bangladesh Biman.
But why police delayed alerting the Special Branch of police to order the airport to stop him from leaving the country; is yet another question.
Police said that Kamrul will be brought back to country soon and Bangladesh labour councilor in Saudi Arabia said they have already opened talk with Saudi official about repatriation of Kamrul to Bangladesh.
A five-member committee with Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet has been formed to investigate and report on the matter in detail. .
Kamrul, the third accused in the murder case of Razon is a Saudi expatriate. He came to Sylhet a month ago to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Officer in-Charge of Jalalabad Police Station Akhter Hossan said that they sent a letter to Dhaka Special Branch of police to issue an order so that Kamrul Hasan cannot leave the country. However, the accused left the country before issuing the letter.
Sylhet police also arrested a suspect from Lamakaji Mirergaon area under Jalalabad Police Station early on Monday. The arrestee was identified as Ismail Hossain Abul, 32, cousin of Muhit Alam. His name was not mentioned in the case filed with the Jalalabad Police Station but he was detained as his involvement is suspected,” said OC of the police station.
Later, the police produced Abul before Magistrate Court-2 in Sylhet praying for a seven-day remand. The court fixed today (Tuesday) for hearing the remand prayer.
However, a Sylhet court placed prime accused Muhit on a 5-day remand. Judge Farhana Yeasmin of the Judicial Magistrate Court no. 2 passed the order after police produced Muhit before his court seeking seven-day remand.
Meanwhile, the autopsy report says that Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Razon died of brain haemorrhage after sustaining head injuries. The forensic tests found around 64 injury marks in the body of ill-fated Razon.
Alamgir Hossain of Jalalabad Police Station, said that they received the report on Monday afternoon. Tasmina Islam, a doctor of Sylhet Osmani Medical College and Hospital, performed the autopsy of victim of the brutality. “The autopsy report says that Razan died due to brain hemorrhage after he suffered head injuries and there were 64 injury marks on the body,” said Alamgir Hossain, who is also investigating the case.
Earlier on July 8, Razon, son of Sheikh Azizur Rahman of Badeali village under Kandirgoan union in Sylhet Sadar Upazila, was tortured to death at Sundar Ali Market at Kumargaon Bus Stand in Sylhet.
The killers themselves took the video footage of the barbaric incident and uploaded it on the internet. The video clip went viral on social networking site Facebook and video-sharing site Youtube which caused an outcry.
The 13-year old boy, tied with pole, was repeatedly charged with batons. In the jittery video footage, Razon was seen heavily sweating and screaming for water. The savages told him to drink his sweat instead of water. At one stage of the brutal torturing, the boy succumbs to his injuries. Every time Razon cried out in pain, the torturers were heard to laugh loud. They even made fun poking him in his private parts.
Meanwhile, local people gave a 12-hour ultimatum to arrest the killers following a meeting of residents of 22 villages at Razon’s house. They also threatened a mass movement if the administration failed to arrest Razon’s killers. OC Akter Hossain also visited the meeting place and said that police were doing everything they could to arrest the murderers.
State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan on Monday said those involved in the brutal murder of teenage boy Razon would not be spared. “The killers will be brought to book and stern actions will be taken against them,” he said while talking to reporters at his office on Monday.
He said that the other killers would be hunted down soon. The law-enforcement agencies have been ordered to arrest the culprits and are continuing their manhunt to arrest them, he added.
On the other hand, thousands of posts have flooded different social media platforms, including Facebook, in a protest against the brutal killing of the 13-year old Razon. The video sparked outrage on social media and initiated an outburst of online activism demanding punishment for the heinous crime.
With the whole nation spilling in outrage and protest over the incident, star cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim joined in and voiced his denounce in the social networking platform Facebook. “The country might have been bubbling in victory celebration against South Africa last night, but the glory was tainted in the barbaric murder of 13-year-old Razon,” he said on his Facebook post.
