No lead in Islami Front leader Farooqi's murder

Police are yet to find any lead over the murder of Islami Front leader and TV show host Nurul Islam Farooqi, though eight months have passed since he was killed.

Farooqi’s son Ahmed Reza Farooqi, who hosts an Islamic show on My TV, expressed anger over the alleged negligence in investigation by the law enforcers.

His father was murdered in his house at East Razabazar in capital city Dhaka on Aug 27, 2014.

Farooqi was also connected with Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. He was the Khatib of High Court Mazar mosque and ran a Hajj agency.

He hosted two Islamic programmes on Channel i.

File Photo

His family and police suspect extremists were behind his murder — like those responsible for killing  bloggers. Fingers have been also pointed at six other hosts of Islamic TV shows, who had a feud with Farooqi over ideological differences.

Police say they have worked on all possible angles but have so far failed to identify the murderers or find a motive behind Farooqi's killing.

Asked about the progress in investigation, Detective Branch inspector and investigation officer (IO) of the case Julhas Uddin Akon said, “Zero... In a word – zero. No progress in investigation.”

About the motive, he said, “Everyone can suspect who was behind the incident.”

IO Akon pointed to the murders of bloggers Ahmed Rajib Haider and Avijit Roy, and the similar murder of six people at Gopibagh, including Pir Lutfar Rahman Faruk.

“As a matter of conjecture, I would imagine that these were the work of a same group,” he said.

He pointed his finger to a photo of absconding Redwanul Rana, who is the prime suspect in blogger Rajib Haider's murder, and said, “Everything can be solved once we get him.”

Farooqi’s son Faisal Farooqi, who filed a robbery and murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station after the incident, was oppose to write his father's murder as just something over an attempted robbery.

He expressed disappointment over the investigation.

“Five to six days ago, the investigation officer showed Maruf (Farooqi’s nephew who had witnessed the murder) some photos and asked him whether he knew any of them. He could not identify anyone. That was the end,” he said.

Farooqi’s another son Ahmed Reza Farooqi said, “Such incidents are occurring one after another. If they were solved at once, these many cases would not pile up.”

Police arrested and grilled former Ahle Hadith President Mojaffar Bin Mohsin and Jama’atul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) member Khorshed Alam Rubel over the murder of Farooqi.

In the petition seeking remand of Mohsin, police claimed he had a feud with Farooqi over ideological difference and made provocative remarks on the TV show anchor.

Rubel was arrested allegedly on his way to kill an ‘atheist’ schoolteacher in Mirpur on Oct 19 last year.

But no clue was mentioned in the investigation report submitted to the court.

Islami Front’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sena leader Imran Hossain Tushar alleged links of  six hosts of Islamic shows of different TV channels.

He claimed Farooqi told him about their plot to kill him before the murder.

The court ordered his claim to be added to the case documents.

One of the TV show anchors owns an insurance company.

Tushar alleged that there is no headway in the investigation as an influential leader of the ruling party is also an owner of the company.

IO Akon, however, dismissed the allegation.

“I asked them (Tushar) several times to come and talk to us. But they did not come,” he said.

According to the case detail, two people went to Farooqi’s house to meet him on the evening he was murdered. Six to seven people barged in after around 20 minutes.

They trussed up members of his family and two of his admirers who were in  the house.

They took away cash and valuables after killing Farooqi.