13 Biswajit murder convicts still at large

Police are yet to arrest 13 men convicted of killing old Dhaka youth Biswajit Das even after two years.

Unconfirmed reports have it that several of them have been seen attending political programmes and are active on social networking site Facebook using aliases.

Activists of ruling Awami League’s student front Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) hacked and beat Das in broad daylight on Dec 9, 2012 near Bahadur Shah Park during a blockade by the BNP and its allies.

File Photo

He died hours later at Mitford Hospital.

On Dec 18 last year, a Dhaka court sentenced eight to death and 13 others to life over the killing.

Eight of the convicts are currently behind bars, while media reports claim four others have fled the country.

But several Jagannath University students, BCL activists, and journalists claim some of the fugitives are still active on Facebook using fake names.

They include death-row convict Rajan Talukder and Imran Hossain, who got a life sentence for the 2012 killing.

Several others claimed Hossain had been seen at Narinda three months ago and that he had attended an Iftar programme this year.

Media reports say Kamrul Hossain, another life convict, joined a BCL rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on Aug 31.

Azizur Rahman, another lifer, was reportedly seen in front of the Awami League headquarters on Aug 15.

Das's father, Ananta Das, has resented the delay in the arrest of the absconders and demanded swift execution of the court verdict.

However, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal says the 'main culprits' have been arrested.

He defended the apparent police 'inaction' saying, "Law keepers are trying to arrest the fugitives."