| Murder of Biswajit Das | |
| Partof: | Violence of Bangladesh Chhatra League |
| Location: | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Injuries: | Death in result of blood loss and blunt force trauma |
| Victim: | Biswajit Das |
| Numpart: | --> |
| Dfen: | --> |
On 9 December 2012, Biswajit Das was a 24-year-old tailor from Dhaka, Bangladesh was murdered by members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the governing Awami League party.[1] On that day, there was a nationwide road blockade called by the opposition 18 Party Alliance. That morning, Das was on his way to his shop, Amantron Tailors at Shankhari Bazaar in Old Dhaka, when one or more small bombs exploded near an anti-blockade procession of BCL activists from Jagannath University.[2] [3] [4]
A group of them mistook Das for an opposition supporter and chased him from near Bahadur Shah Park into a nearby building. They attacked him with machetes, iron bars, and hockey sticks. Das attempted to escape, but fell down at Shankhari Bazar Road. A rickshaw-puller took Das to Mitford Hospital, where he shortly died of his wounds.
The daytime murder was captured live on television and appalled the nation. Within days, Jagannath University expelled three students and cancelled the certificates of two others for alleged involvement in the murder. The following week, they expelled four more.[5]
By 25 December, seven suspects were in police custody.[6] An eighth man was arrested on 26 May 2013. The eight were among twenty-one indicted on 2 June for Das' murder. All were activists of the Jagannath University unit of the BCL. Their trial started on 14 July.[7] All twenty-one were found guilty on 18 December 2013. Eight were sentenced to death and thirteen were sentenced to life in prison. Thirteen, including two of those sentenced to death, were convicted in absentia and, as of August 2017, have not been apprehended.[8] [9]
In its 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the United States Department of State cites Das' murder as an example of political violence in connection with general strikes in Bangladesh.[10]
| Name of Accused | Court Verdict | Appeal Verdict | Current Status[11] [12] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saiful Islam | Death Sentence | Acquitted (11/07/2017) | Free | |
| 2 | Kaiyum Mia | Death Sentence | Acquitted (11/07/2017) | Free | |
| 3 | G M Rasheduzzaman alias Shaon | Death Sentence | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated | |
| 4 | Mahfuzur Rahman alias Nahid | Death Sentence | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated | |
| 5 | Imdadul Haque alias Emdad | Death Sentence | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated | |
| 6 | Rafiqul Islam alias Shakil | Death Sentence | Death Sentence | Incarcerated | |
| 7 | Rajan Talukder | Death Sentence | Death Sentence | Fugitive | |
| 8 | Nure Alam | Death Sentence | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | |
| 9 | A H M Kibria | Life Imprisonment | Acquitted (11/07/2017) | Free | |
| 10 | Golam Mostafa | Life Imprisonment | Acquitted (11/07/2017) | Free | |
| 11 | Khondaker Yunus Ali | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated (31/10/2022) | ||
| 12 | Tareq Bin Zohar Tamal | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated (25/06/2018) | ||
| 13 | Alauddin | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated (15/07/2022) | ||
| 14 | Obaidul Kader Tahsin | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 15 | Imran Hossain | Life Imprisonment | Incarcerated (10/08/2021) | ||
| 16 | Azizur Rahman Aziz | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 17 | Al Amin Sheikh | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 18 | Rafiqul Islam | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 19 | Monirul Haque Pavel | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 20 | Kamrul Hasan | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive | ||
| 21 | Mosharraf Hossain | Life Imprisonment | Fugitive |