Over four months after the grisly attack at the official residence of Dhaka University’s Vice Chancellor, police are yet to make any headway in the case’s investigation except rounding up some youths on suspicion in this connection.
Though some Detective Branch officials involved in the investigation process claimed to UNB that they have identified 7 to 8 people scrutinizing footages collected from CCTV cameras installed outside the VC residence, none agreed to speak
on record. Media reported after the April 9 incident that a gang of masked people carried out the attack during the height of a popular student movement seeking reforms in existing quota system in public service recruitment.
Later many academics gave statement pointing out that the attack on VC’s residence might have been a ploy to sabotage the quota movement. Though there has been no remarkable progress in the case in all these months, at least three top leaders of quota reform student movement – Rashed Khan, Jashim Uddin Akash and Moshiur Rahman – have been languishing in jail after being implicated in several cases including attack on VC house, attack on-duty police.
DU chief security officer SM Kamrul Ahsan filed the case with Shahbagh police station on April 10 on the charge of unauthorized entry, damage and looting of valuables from the house of the Vice-Chancellor.
Later, the case was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Senior ASP Fazlur Rahman of the DB (Dhanmondi Zonal team) is now investigating the case as its Investigation Officer (IO). Speaking on condition of anonymity, DB officials involved in the case probing claimed of identifying several suspects by scrutinizing footages of CCTV cameras installed outside the VC’s residence. Of them, three suspects-Md Saidur Rahman, 24, Md Atiqur Rahman, 22, and Rashed Khan are now in jail, they said.
“We have failed to collect the footages of CCTV camera installed inside the VC’s house as the perpetrators destroyed the device and set it on fire,” said a sleuth. He said the detectives sent the damaged CCTV camera to the forensic expert of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to examine whether it is possible to recover the footages. “We are yet to get the expert opinion from the CID,” the DB officer said requesting anonymity.
On April 29, the detectives arrested four more – Rakibul Hasan, 26, Masud Alam, 25, Ali Hossain Sheikh, 28, and Abu Sayeed Fazle Rabbi Siam, 20 – from the city’s Chankharpool area in connection with the attack. Of them, Masud is a student of Dhaka Alia Madrasa while Rakib is an accused in five cases filed with different police stations in Barishal and Laxmipur, said police. Siam and Rakib were present inside the VC’s residence when the attack was launched, said the DB officer quoting the investigation findings. He said, Rakib snatched two mobile phone sets, one from Anwarullah, a security guard of the VC’s residence, and another from washerman Khokon Das of the same house, during the attack.
“We first arrested Masud Alam as he was using the mobile set of Anwarullah. Based on his statement, Ali Hossain was arrested and then Rakib. Masud claimed that he bought the mobile set from Ali Hossain, while Hossain said he bought the mobile phone set from Rakib,” said the DB officer. But since then there has been no visible progress in the case investigation. When approached, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman said detectives arrested five suspects who were present during the attack. They (detectives) are trying to arrest other culprits who were identified through scrutinizing CCTV footages, he said. In the early hours of April 9, as a popular quota reform movement was in progress, a gang of people mostly wearing masks, broke into the main entrance of the VC’s residence and ransacked several rooms and furniture of the house. They also set two vehicles parked inside the VC residence on fire.
