High Court cancels appointment of new Narayanganj murders enquiry committee chief

The High Court has revoked the government order on appointment of the new chief of the committee investigating the Naryanganj seven-murder case.

The bench of justices Md Rezaul Haque and Gobinda Chandra Tagore said in an order on Wednesday that Additional Secretary to the public administration ministry Shahjahan Ali Molla, who had been overseeing the enquiry from the outset, will have to file the report.

Seven men, including Narayanganj City councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar, were abducted on Apr 27. Their bodies were found floating on the Shitalakhyya River several days later.

Nazrul’s family alleged that local Awami League leader Nur Hossain paid RAB Tk 60 million for carrying out the abductions and murders.

A case was filed naming Nur Hossain as the prime suspect right after the abduction.

The High Court ordered, on May 7, the formation of a probe committee with Molla as its chief.

It has been tasked to find out if the law enforcers were involved in the murders or whether they were negligent in rescuing the abductees.

The committee, headed by Molla, recorded statements of over 400 people, including Narayanganj City Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy, Awami League MP AKM Shamim Osman, RAB Director General Mokhlesur Rahman and Additional Director General Col Ziaul Ahsan.

Molla, in the meantime, was appointed the acting secretary to the Public Service Commission (PSC) on Nov 9. Following the appointment, the investigation came to a standstill as Molla became busy with his new assignment.

The ministry appointed Additional Secretary its Md Abdul Hakim as the head of the committee.

The committee’s Member Secretary Abul Kashem Mohiuddin told bdnews24.com after the government order: “Our work is almost done. We will submit a report to the court any time now.

“We will settle the matter after discussing it with the new chief.”

The court, however, ordered continuation of the probe without effecting any change in the probe panel. If the investigation was almost done what was the need to change the head of the panel at this stage, it asked.