Police on guard when the lone assailant attacks Prof Zafar Iqbal

The role of the policemen who were deployed to ensure security of Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal has been called into question as the lone assailant managed to carry out the attack when at least three policemen were almost at arm-length.

Witnesses said three policemen stood within yards from the seats on the stage where the celebrated writer-teacher sat during the attack around 5:50pm on Saturday on Shahjalal University of Science and Technology campus in Sylhet.

It was a festival of the electrical and electronic engineering department at the Muktamancha on the campus. The teacher was at the venue from 3:30pm.

The young suspect, who was held during the attack and beat up by the students, stood next to the policemen, just behind the professor.   

Doctors said they found four wounds on Prof Iqbal’s head, which seemed to be from the hit by an iron rod, and there were knife wounds on his back and left hand.

Many have raised the question how Prof Iqbal came under attack while being guarded by police.

Blogger-writer Mahmudul Haque Munshi wrote in a Facebook post, “Police were only five to six yards from Avijit when he was murdered. Police admitted that they stood silently even after witnessing the attack.

“There were a number of policemen guarding Zafar Iqbal. My question is - whose duty the police were discharging? Was it murderers’ (duty)?  

Ganajagaran Mancha Spokesperson Imran H Sarker said the government could not evade responsibilities for the incident as it happened in the presence of police posted by the government.

Some students believe militants may have been responsible for the attack as Iqbal has been outspoken about the curse of militancy and communalism.

Police have been escorting Prof Iqbal for security reasons since 2015 when militants threatened him to kill.

According to his aide Zainal Abedin, eight policemen from Jalalabad Police Station are posted for the security of Prof Iqbal – four of whom accompany him while four others were guarding his house.

Mohammad Ibrahim, one of the police personnel guarding Iqbal during the programme, suffered knife injury in the attack.

Asked over the phone whether there was negligence in duty by the policemen, Jalalabad Police Station OC hung up the phone, saying he was busy.