Published : 29 Aug 2026, 04:50 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:36 AM
More than a decade after Islamic preacher Nurul Islam Farooqi was killed, the case has yet to reach trial, leaving one of Bangladesh’s high-profile militant murder cases caught in prolonged legal limbo.
His family is shocked that they have not received justice after such an extended. They hope for a quick conclusion to the trial and for the accused in his killing to be brought to justice.
Farooqi was hacked to death and had his throat slit at his house in Dhaka’s East Rajabazar on Aug 27, 2014.
University student Faisal Farooqi filed a case against seven to eight people at the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station after his father’s killing.
A week later, on Sept 3, Farooqi's family held a press conference at his home and alleged that religious extremists had planned to kill him.
Ten years after the incident – on Nov 5, 2024 – the case investigating officer KM Abul Kashem, an additional special superintendent of police in the Criminal Investigation Department, submitted a charge sheet to the court accusing six people. He said the murder was planned and carried out by Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants.
The charge sheet also recommended the dropping of 12 suspects from the case. The investigating officer said the full names and addresses of six of them were not available, while sufficient evidence had not been found to accuse the others.
The chargesheet said that though evidence linked Jamai Farooqui, Naeem, Emon, Hafez Kabir, Ashfaq-e-Azam alias Apel, and Khorshed Alam to the killing, their full names and addresses could not be confirmed.
Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Sena’s Dhaka Metropolitan General Secretary Imran Hossain Tushar also filed a case in court on Sept 4, 2014, on behalf of Bangladesh Islami Front, accusing six people of the incident.
These six are NTV and ATN Bangla Islamic programme commentator and Jamaat-e-Islami member Rukon Tarek Monowar; former Narsingdi Jamaat-e-Islam Ameer Kamal Uddin Jafri; Diganta and Peace TV Islamic programme commentator Kazi Ibrahim; ATN Bangla Islamic programme presenter Arakanullah Haruni; RTV and Radio Today presenter Khaled Saifullah Bakhshi; and Banglavision's “Quraner Alo” programme presenter Mukhtar Ahmed.
However, no evidence was found against them during the investigation.
The accused named in the chargesheet of the official murder case are Hadisur Rahman alias Sagar, Abdullah Al Tasnim Nahid, Rafiqul Islam Fardin, Abu Raihan Mahmud Abdul Hadi, Mahmud Ibne Bashar, Ratan Chowdhury alias Engineer Ripon aka Rakibul Islam Riaz.
Bashar and Rakibul are absconding, and arrest warrants have been issued against them. Hadisur is in jail. The other three suspects are out on bail.
After accepting the CID chargesheet on Mar 23 last year, the case was prepared for trial and on Oct 21, an order was issued to send the documents from the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Court to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court.
At the same time, 12 suspects were dropped from the case according to the investigating officer’s recommendation.
The case is set for an indictment hearing in the court of Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mahmudul Islam.
The case was scheduled for a hearing on Aug 20. A hearing on the petition for some suspects to be dropped from the case has also concluded.
However, a lawyer for the accused said that a further hearing has been set for Sept 13.
Accused Ratan's lawyer Md Jayedur Rahman said, "The investigation of the case has been completed after a long time. I hope we will get justice."
Suspect Abu Raihan's lawyer KM Shariful Islam (Tanvir) said, "I have applied for him to be dropped from the filing of the complaint. I hope the court will exempt him. Still, if the complaint is filed, we will go to trial."
Aminul Islam Sarkar, the state lawyer for the court, told bdnews24.com: "The case is 12 years old. It has taken a long time for the investigation to conclude. After 10 years, a charge sheet has been filed against six people."
He said, "The case is at the indictment hearing stage. It is a sensitive case. Once the charges are framed, we will try to conclude the trial of the case quickly by presenting our witnesses."
The chargesheet states that Islamic Front leader Farooqi was a follower of Sufi ideology and in favour of shrines, while the accused are followers of JMB ideology and are anti-shrine. It says Farooqi was killed in a planned manner by a section of the militant organisation Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which was divided into three sub-groups at that time.
The chargesheet states Salauddin was leading one group, Sarwar Jahan Manik another group and Saidur Rahman the third. Law enforcers say the Salauddin group used to conduct robberies during their alleged operations.
The investigation found that Jamai Farooqui was one of the members of the Salauddin group, and he was in charge of the “operation” in Dhaka. They killed Farooqui due to ideological differences.
The chargesheet also details the plan for the killing. It states that on Aug 26, 2014, between 7:30pm and 8:00pm, a murder was planned at the house of the in-laws of Jamai Farooqui's associate Emon in Kamar Para, next to East West Medical College in Dhaka’s Ashulia. Jamai Farooqui and another leader of the militant organisation named Abdullah planned to kill Farooqi.
In accordance with the plan, the accused entered Farooqi’s house on Aug 27, 2014, killed him, and looted cash and gold ornaments.
According to that plan, on August 27, 2014, the accused entered the house, killed Farooqui and looted cash and gold ornaments.
It says that around 7pm, they rang the doorbell Farooqi's house. When he opened the door, two men entered and sat down in the drawing room. After some time six to seven more people entered the house.
As there was no space to sit, plaintiff Faisal Farooqi's cousin Maruf Hossain went to get a chair from inside. When he returned, he saw that the accused were holding a pistol and a machete to Farooqi's head. They then tied up everyone in the house, killed Farooqi and left with cash, mobile phones, gold ornaments and a camera.
Maruf, a witness to the incident, told bdnews24.com: "It is impossible to forget that day. I can't forget it."
He said, "This is a hotly debated case. We want justice."
Farooqi's son Faisal said: "We have been saying the same thing for many years. We said it to the previous government, we told the interim government, and we expect the same thing from the current one. Let justice be done quickly."
“Many old cases have been tried during this time. We are saddened that ours has not been tried yet. Let the trial be completed as soon as possible.”
