All accused acquitted in RU BCL activist Faruk murder case

All accused have been acquitted in the case filed over the murder of Rajshahi University Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activist Faruk Hossain.

The verdict in the sensational case was delivered by Judge Julfiker Ullah of Rajshahi Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court-1 on Sunday afternoon, October 12.

All 114 accused in the case were leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatrashibir. Several senior Jamaat leaders, including its then ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami, were also accused in the case.

Public Prosecutor Ali Ashraf Masum said the court acquitted all accused as the charges were not proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Among the 114 accused, nine have died. Of the remaining 105, 25 were present in court during the verdict.

According to the case statement, on the night of February 8, 2010, Faruk Hossain, a mathematics student and BCL activist, was killed during a clash between BCL and Islami Chhatra Shibir near Shah Makhdum Hall of Rajshahi University. The following day, his body was recovered from a manhole inside the campus.

Following the incident, the then general secretary of the university unit of BCL, Majedul Islam Apu, filed a case with Motihar Police Station. The case named 35 Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists and accused another 20 to 25 unidentified persons.

After about two and a half years, on July 28, 2012, the investigation officer Zillur Rahman submitted a 1,269-page charge sheet to the court. It accused 110 persons, including Jamaat’s then ameer Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, nayeb-e-ameer Maulana Delawar Hossain Sayeedi, then Rajshahi city ameer Ataur Rahman, Rajshahi University unit Shibir president Shamsul Alam Golap, general secretary Mobarak Hossain, Nabab Abdul Latif Hall unit president Hasmat Ali, Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall unit president Raizul Islam, and Shibir activists Ruhul Amin and Bappi.