Nazrul laid to rest as Narayanganj teeters on edge

Slain City councillor and panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation Nazrul Islam, whose body was recovered from the Shitalakhya river yesterday three days after being abducted with 4 of his associates, was laid to rest Thursday morning.

Following namaz-e-janaza on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway near Sanarpar bus stand in SIddhirganj around 11 am, he was buried at his family graveyard in Siddhirganj.

Around 10am, the bodies of Nazrul and his friend Tajul Islam, two of the seven victims in the unspeakable incident that has put entire Narayanganj on a knife-edge, were brought to the burial spot over the Dhk-Ctg highway.

Parts of the highway had been closed at various points since the abductions on Sunday, as locals’ anger at the serious decay in law-and-order in Narayanganj boiled over. 

Today as well, a long tailback stretching several kilometres ensued, as thousands gathered on the highway itself to take part in the janaza of Nazrul and Tajul.

Earlier on Sunday, Nazrul and four of his associates (including Tajul and the driver), were abducted by miscreants from Fatullah. Within hours, senior lawyer at district Judge’s Court Chandan Kumar Sarker and his driver were also abducted while on their way to Dhaka.

It is thought that the two separate instances of abduction, and subsequent septuple-murder (7 murders) are connected.

Their deaths were confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, with the recovery of six bodies found floating on the Shitalakhya and Dhaleshwari rivers. The seventh body was recovered from the Shitalakhya on Thursday morning. –UNB, Dhaka