DEEPEAST NEWS, USA
Today, November 3, marks Jail Killing Day, a deeply tragic day in the history of Bangladesh. On this day in 1975, four prominent national leaders were brutally murdered while in custody at Dhaka Central Jail: Syed Nazrul Islam, Acting President of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh during the Liberation War; Tajuddin Ahmad, the wartime prime minister; and cabinet members Captain M. Mansur Ali and A.H.M. Qamaruzzaman.
Earlier that year, following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15, the four close associates of the Father of the Nation were arrested and sent to prison after refusing to join the government formed by those who seized power. Amid a series of conspiracies and successive power struggles, the four national leaders were murdered inside the jail under the cover of darkness, 51 years ago.
The day after the killings, a case was filed with Lalbagh Police Station. The then Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Kazi Abdul Awal, filed the case. However, the charge sheet was submitted only 23 years later, on October 15, 1998. The verdict was delivered on October 20, 2004. Three former prison personnel—Risaldar Moslem Uddin, Dafadar Marfat Ali Shah and LD (Dafadar) Abul Hashem Mridha—were sentenced to death.
In addition, 12 people, including four convicts sentenced to death in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case—Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed—were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Former minister and BNP leader K.M. Obaidur Rahman, Shah Moazzem Hossain, Nurul Islam Manzur and Taheruddin Thakur were acquitted.
