BNP on Monday formed an investigation team to probe the recent murder of a scrap trader in Old Dhaka, expressing concerns that the incident could be exploited for political motives and to destabilise the election environment.
“There are reasons to suspect that this murder is being used for political gain and that such an incident is being used as an excuse at the instigation of certain quarters to disrupt the atmosphere of the upcoming national elections,” said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said there are many reasons to believe that the Mitford murder is being deliberately used to create unrest in the country and to implement evil political motives.
“To dig out the facts behind this brutal murder, we have decided to form an investigation and fact-finding committee comprising appropriate persons, who will reveal the actual facts and make them public,” Fakhrul said.
He said they have arranged the press conference in response to a recent tragic and unexpected incident, particularly due to a deliberate attempt to distort the narrative and unjustly use it as part of a malicious campaign to tarnish the image of the country’s largest political party and its top leader, Tarique Rahman, and to register the party’s strong protest.
As a responsible political party, Fakhrul said the BNP has already strongly condemned and protested the killing of Lal Chand Sohag, who was beaten to death in the Mitford area of Dhaka, and has demanded exemplary punishment for those involved.
He said despite the absence of any evidence proving direct involvement or presence at the scene, the party has taken the highest organisational action—lifetime expulsion—against those named in the police complaint, in line with party discipline.
The BNP leader said the victim’s family has already raised concerns about inconsistencies in the case statement.
According to the family, he said, the names of three people were included in the report in place of the actual perpetrators, even though they have no complaints against those named.
Regrettably, Fakhrul said, the real culprits directly involved in the brutal killing have not yet been identified, let alone arrested, and the law enforcement agencies have so far failed to reveal their names or identities.
He said the BNP has earlier called on the current government to arrest those directly involved in the murder and to ensure swift justice.
“Despite such a firm party position, a certain vested quarter is systematically showing the audacity to defame the party and malign its top leadership by attacking their character,” Fakhrul said.
Lal Chand Sohag, a trader from Old Dhaka, was brutally killed in broad daylight near Mitford Hospital on Wednesday, reportedly over a dispute related to the scrap trade.
