Police arrest son-in-law of Bangabandhu killer Shahriar Rashid

Police have arrested Fuad Zaman, the son-in-law of Bangabandhu’s convicted killer Sultan Shahriar Rashid, in a case filed under the Information and Communication Technology Act.

The counterterrorism unit arrested Fuad from Dhaka’s Hatirjheel at midnight on Wednesday, Additional Deputy Commissioner Nazmul Islam told bdnews24.com.

“Fuad was arrested in an ICT act case over his derogatory remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and praising the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu in a Facebook post,” he said.

Mohammed Nazmul Hassan Piyash, a member of Ahsanullah Science and Technology University wing of Bangabandhu Engineers Council filed the case under the ICT Act in Dhanmondi Model Police Station on Aug 23.

The accused, Fuad Zaman, is the husband of Shehnaz Rashid Khan, the daughter of Rtd Lt Col Sultan Shahriar Rashid, according to the case details.

According to the case dossier, Fuad had written derogatory remarks on the gruesome assassination of Bangabandhu and openly supported the killers of Bangabandhu who have been convicted by the court in a Facebook post on Aug 15.

The issue is ‘severely disrespectful, image-tarnishing and provocative’ to the father of the nation, the complainant said in the case.    

A handful of renegade army officials killed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family on Aug 15, 1975.  The trial for the assassins was halted through an indemnity bill.

Five of the 12 condemned to death for the murders have been hanged in the 34 years since. The trials only resumed after the Awami League returned to power in 1996. The trial was deferred again when the BNP-Jamaat Islami alliance assumed power in 2001.  

Five of the 12 convicted killers, including Sultan Shahriar Rashid, were hanged on Jan 27, 2010 after the Awami League assumed power again in 2009.