Staff Reporter :
Prime Minister’s special assistant Mahabubul Haque Shakil, 48, died at a Japanese restaurant in the city on Tuesday.
Police recovered his body from Samdado Japanese Cuisine, one of the city’s oldest Japanese restaurants, at House No-27, Road No-35, Gulshan-2 at about 2.30 pm yesterday.
Officials said Shakil, a former central leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League, used to visit the restaurant often. He died yesterday while taking launch in the restaurant.
When contacted, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said that he had heard about the death and was going to the spot.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has mourned the death. She also prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family,” she said. Police instantly could not tell the reason behind the death. But the Gulshan police picked up five employees of the restaurant for interrogation in connection with the incident.
“As per preliminary information, Shakil died of cardiac arrest. However, it will be confirmed after getting report from the doctors… It is confirmed that he is no more,” Joint General Secretary of Awami League Mahabubul Alam Hanif said while he went to visit the spot at about 4:00pm.
The body was taken away by an ambulance from the restaurant at 5:50pm. “Shakil’s body would be kept at the mortuary of BIRDEM. His namaz-e-janaza will be held at Dhaka University central mosque at 11:00am today [Wednesday]. An autopsy will be conducted before the namaz-e-janaza,” State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu said.
Bipu said: “The body of Shakil will be buried in his family graveyard at Baghmarha of Mymensingh.”
The forensic experts of Criminal Investigation Department [CID] entered the restaurant to examine the evidences at about 5:00pm. Officer-in-Charge [investigation] Gulshan Police Station Md Salauddin said the police were thoroughly searching the spot for clues to know the actual reason of his death.
Awami League presidium member Syed Ashraful Islam came to the site at about 5:30pm. Prime Minister’s military secretary Maj Gen Miah Md Joynul Abedin also visited the spot.
Meanwhile, a huge number of party activists, supporters and followers thronged the restaurant after the news spread in the city. Speaker of the National Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury expressed condolence over the death.
Unconfirmed sources said that Shakil went to the restaurant on Monday night and stayed at a room there. Hearing no sound from him, the employees of the restaurant broke the door open and found him dead.
Meanwhile, a strong rumour spread after his death that Shakil had committed suicide. It was learnt that he posted a status in his facebook timeline [a 12-line poem] on Monday where he mentioned about the death.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police [Gulshan Zone] refrained from making any comment over the issues despite repeated attempts last night.
Shakil left behind his lawyer wife, a daughter, a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death. He was chief executive officer of the Centre for Research and Information [CRI], the research cell of Awami League, formed after the 2001 election. He was appointed deputy press secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after the Awami League came to power in 2008.
In 2014, he was given the role of her special assistant for media. Shakil was born in Tangail on December 20, 1968. His father lawyer Jahirul Hoque Khoka is the president of the Awami League’s unit in Mymensingh district. His mother Nur-un Nahar Khan is a teacher. He received his honours and masters degree on sociology from Dhaka University.
He was also a poet and his two books of poems – ‘Khero khatar pata theke’ and ‘Mon kharaper gari’ — were published from a renowned publication house.
