Murder of Zubair Ahmed

Murder of Jubayer Ahmed
Part of Violence of Bangladesh Chhatra League
Location	Jahangirnagar University
Date	January 9, 2012 (2012-01-09) Afternoon to night
Target	Jubayer Ahmed
Attack type	Assault, beating
Deaths	1
Victim	Jubayer Ahmed
Perpetrators	Ishtiaq Mehboob Arup Ashikul Islam Ashik Jahid Hasan Rashedul Islam Raju and others
No. of participants	12–16 individuals
Motive	Hostel occupation, power expansion

Murder of Zubair Ahmed is an incident that occurred at Jahangirnagar University in Savar, orchestrated by activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). Zubair Ahmed was a student of the English Department at Jahangirnagar University. On January 9, 2012, during an internal conflict between two factions of the Chhatra League, Zubair, a member of one faction, was attacked by the other and succumbed to his injuries. The police stated that a group of Chhatra League members, who had been subjected to ragging by first-year students, might have committed the murder out of vengeance. During the trial, the accused also threatened to kill several individuals from the plaintiff’s side. Charges were brought against 13 members of the Chhatra League in connection with the murder. In 2015, five of the accused were sentenced to death, and six others were given life imprisonment. The university administration permanently expelled seven Chhatra League members involved in the murder and suspended six others for two years.

Background

Zubair Ahmed was a second-year student in the English Department of the 37th batch and a residential student of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall. His home was in the Kalapara Upazila of Patuakhali District. Before February 2011, the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall on campus was under the control of the then-suspended committee president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, Rashedul Islam Shafin, and his followers. During this period, the deceased Zubair Ahmed was an active member of the Shafin group. In early February, tensions escalated among Chhatra League factions surrounding an anti-terrorism rally across the campus. On the night of February 2, under the leadership of the Dhaka District Police and with the assistance of the university administration, the Shafin group was expelled from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall. At the same time, the Shamim-Sharif group was brought into the hall. It is alleged that this group had a close relationship with the then-vice-chancellor, Sharif Enamul Kabir.

Attack

On January 8, 2012, under the leadership of Ishtiaq Mehboob Arup, 10–15 second-year students from Rafiq-Jabbar Hall attacked Zubair. He was rescued and admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar. As his condition deteriorated further, he was transferred to United Hospital in Dhaka later that night, where he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of January 9.

Case

Immediately after the murder on January 8, 2012, the then-registrar of the university, Hamidur Rahman, filed a murder case at Ashulia Police Station against unidentified individuals. Police officer Mir Shaheen Shah Parvez was assigned to investigate the case. Following the investigation, a charge sheet was submitted to the Dhaka Magistrate Court on April 8, accusing 13 students from the university's 37th batch. The trial proceedings began on September 8, 2012. As the case progressed slowly, it was transferred to Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 on August 13, 2013. After hearings, Tribunal Judge ABM Nizamul Haque ordered the prompt commencement of the trial against the accused.

Trial proceedings

In connection with this murder, the police arrested a total of four individuals, all of whom provided confessional statements in court. Initially, the accused, Zahid Hasan, was arrested and taken into a three-day remand. As of February 13, 2014, only 10 out of 37 witnesses for the prosecution had completed their testimony. Among them was the university's former pro-vice-chancellor, Md. Farhad Hossain. On January 19, 2014, six of the accused threatened two students, Syed Nazmul Hossain and Rajibul Islam, who were protesting and demanding justice for the murder. The two students, in fear, filed a general diary at Dhaka’s Kotwali Police Station. Subsequently, on February 6, the trial judge ordered the six accused to explain why their bail should not be revoked. On February 23, 2014, the judge revoked the bail of four accused. On the same day, due to negligence by court authorities, the four accused escaped from the dock. By November 28, 2014, testimony from 27 witnesses had been completed. On that day, only two of the accused were present in court, while the rest remained fugitives and were not yet re-arrested.

Verdict

After the completion of the trial proceedings, the verdict of the case was repeatedly delayed. On February 4, 2015, the verdict was scheduled to be announced; however, when it was postponed, students of Jahangirnagar University organized a protest march. Finally, on February 8, 2015, the final verdict of the case was delivered. The court sentenced five defendants to death and six defendants to life imprisonment. On the day of the final verdict, only five individuals (Sohag, Mazharul, Setu, Abhinandan, and Tapu) were present, while the others remained absconding. This was the first case involving a public university murder where the perpetrators were sentenced to the maximum punishment. But 12 years after the murder, as of January 2024, the verdict had yet to be implemented. Judge ABM Nizamul Haque made a comment about the case on the day of the final judgment, stating:

The murder is a consequence of unethical activities among student organizations in public universities.

— Judge during the pronouncement of the murder case verdict, https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-42803291

On January 2, 2018, the appeal hearing of the case began in the Appellate Division. In the proceedings, Najmul Hasan Plabon and Mahmudul Hasan Masud were acquitted due to the lack of evidence linking them to the murder. Out of the 13 accused, only 7 were in custody at the time, while the others were on the run. During the hearing on the 24th, four more defendants — Mazharul Islam, Shafiul Alam, Kamruzzaman, and Abhinandan Kundu — were also acquitted.

List of accused

In this murder case, 13 individuals were charged. All of them were students from various departments of Jahangirnagar University and resided in Rafiq-Jabbar Hall. All the accused were from the 37th batch of the university and, at the time of the incident, were in their second year of studies.

Name	Department	Verdict	Current Status
Shafiul Alam Setu	Statistics	Life imprisonment
Abhinandan Kundu Offy	Statistics	Life imprisonment
Ashikul Islam Ashik	Zoology	Death sentence	Fled to Malaysia
Khan Muhammad Riaz Sohan	Zoology	Death sentence	Fled to Malaysia
Jahid Hasan	Zoology	Death sentence
Kamruzzaman Sohag	Philosophy	Life imprisonment
Ishtiaq Mehboob Arup	Philosophy	Life imprisonment	Fled to Malaysia
Rashedul Islam Raju	Philosophy	Death sentence
Mahbub Akram	Government and Politics	Death sentence	Fled to Malaysia
Mahmudul Hasan	History	Acquitted
Mazharul Islam	History	Life imprisonment
Nazmus Saqib Topu	Microbiology	Life imprisonment
Nazmul Hasan Plabon	Public Administration	Acquitted

Protest and demonstration

The murder incident caused Jahangirnagar University to erupt in protests. A section of the Chhatra League, along with other student organizations, general students, and teachers, collectively initiated a movement against terrorism, issuing a statement under the banner of a group called "Jahangirnagar Against Terrorism." The organizer of this movement was Soumya Joydeep, the then-president of the Student Union. At a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, some university faculty members, under the banner of the Teachers' Society, demanded a judicial investigation into the murder. Teachers were actively involved in the protest for justice. On January 15, 2012, students organized a protest and torch procession with four main demands. On January 9, 2014, a day-long solidarity gathering, photo exhibition, and a protest cultural program were organized on the campus. These activities were held under the banner “Jahangirnagar Against Terrorism” at the base of the Shahid Minar. On January 9, 2015, in observance of Anti-Terrorism Day, a day-long photo exhibition was held, along with a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Jubayer, protests demanding justice, and the screening of a documentary. The protesters accused the Chhatra League group, the alleged killers, of receiving support from Vice-chancellor Sharif Enamul Kabir. The convener of the Teachers' Society, Professor Nasim Akhtar Hossain, said, "There have been no new arrests in the murder case. Many of the accused are freely roaming on campus, and despite the administration knowing about it, they remain silent. This gives us an idea of the administration's role." In response to the intense protests from teachers and students, Vice-chancellor Sharif Enamul Kabir, Security Officer Azim Uddin, Proctor Arju Mia, and other members of the Proctorial Committee resigned from their positions. The university's legal officer, Mahtab Uzz Zahid, said, “We have provided full cooperation from the university's side regarding testimony and evidence in the court. We now expect the court to deliver the maximum punishment to the guilty parties.”

Subsequent reactions

Years passed after the murder, but the lack of progress in the case left Jubayer's family deeply disappointed. Jubayer's elder brother, a teacher at Leading University in Sylhet, stated that when information is required, the university administration fails to provide any assistance. He further remarked, "No new suspects have been arrested in the case, and even after such a long time, the police still claim that the accused are absconding. It's clear there is a lack of effort on their part." On January 9, 2023, at an assembly organized under the banner "Jahangirnagar Against Terrorism," Professor Raihan Rain commented, "The punishment given to Jubayer's murderers is equivalent to that for killing a bird."