Court orders re-probe into Tofazzal murder case

A Dhaka court today directed Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to launch re-investigation into a case filed for lynching a mentally disordered man, named Tofazzal Hossain, at the university’s Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall on suspicion of theft.

The court asked the PBI to submit a report on May 4.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman passed the order on Wednesday (February 26) following a no-confidence (naraji) petition submitted by the DU authorities.

On February 2, lawyer Mohammad Amanullah, a supervisor of DU estate office, also the complainant of the case, filed the no-confidence petition rejecting the probe report submitted by Shahbagh police.

Earlier, Shahbagh police station Inspector Md Asaduzzaman, also the investigating officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet before a Dhaka court on January 1.

Of the accused, six are now behind bars while 15 others are on the run. The charge sheet, however, did not mention the political affiliation of the accused.

Earlier, Md Jalal Mia, Sumon Mia, Mottakin Sakin, Al Hossain Sajjad, Ahsan Ullah alias Bipul Sheikh, and Wajibul Alam gave statements in a Dhaka court, confessing their involvement in the incident. They were sent to jail then.

On September 18 last year, 32-year-old Tofazzal was beaten to death by a group of students.

They caught him from the dormitory and beat him up in two phases. Later, he was declared dead at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the early hours of September 19.

The DU authorities filed a case with the police station on September 19.