Journo Mukul murder: 26 years of justice denied

The trial of journalist RM Saiful Alam Mukul murder who was the editor of the Jashore-based Bangla daily Runner is yet to be completed, 26 years after the brutal killing.

The culprits behind his death is still unidentified. The proceedings of the case have been stuck in the High Court for the last 14 years. If the writ is not disposed of in the high court, the trial of the case in the lower court will not start, informed public prosecutor M Idris Ali.

Meanwhile, both Mukul’s family and the Jashore Journalists’ Union express their frustration and disappointment at the lack of justice, despite the passage of two and a half decades since the tragic event.

Amid the situation, the 26th death anniversary of the late journalist Mukul is being observed on August 30 through various programs.

According to the source of the case, on 30 August, 1998, Saiful Alam Mukul, the editor of daily Runner, was killed in a bomb attack by miscreants at the Charkhamba intersection on his way from city to his residence in Bejpara.

The very next day, Hafiza Akhtar Shireen, wife of the deceased, filed a murder case at Kotwali police station without mentioning anyone’s name.

Later, the investigating officer CID Jessore Zone then ASP Dulal Uddin Akanda filed a charge sheet in the court accusing 22 people including former minister Tariqul Islam on April 23, 1999.

At one point, the proceedings of the case stalled due to legal complications. And because of this, the sensational case was dismissed from the High Court.

Seven years later, in 2005, a special bench of the High Court revived the Mukul murder case and ordered an extended investigation.

On December 21 of that year, CID officer Mawla Bux gave the supplementary charge sheet to the court including the names of two new persons.

On 15 June 2006, a Jashore court charged 22 individuals in connection with the Mukul murder case.

Notably, former minister Tariqul Islam and another accused named Rupam were acquitted at that time. The year 2010 saw the registration of testimonies from 25 witnesses in the Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court-2.

According to court sources, the accused Ittefaq journalist Faraji Ajmal Hossain filed an appeal in the High Court, seeking release from the Mukul murder case.

Consequently, the progress of the case came to a halt again. Public prosecutor Idris Ali remarked that the Mukul murder case trial was on the verge of completion. However, due to an appeal lodged by one of the accused in the High Court, the case’s arguments could not commence.

Against this backdrop, the 26th death anniversary of journalist Saiful Alam is being observed on August 30.

Marking the occasion, Jashore Press Club and Jashore Journalists’ Union chalked out various programs, including a condolence rally, wreath-laying at the memorial, and a doa mahfil.