The Detective Branch of police identified the ruling party student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League activist and Dhaka College second year Bangla department student Emon as the man who hacked courier service delivery man Nahid Hasan during clashes between the college students and traders on Tuesday.
Nahid succumbed to his injuries hours later at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, prompting security forces to launch a drive to identify the persons involved in hacking and beating him in front of Nurjahan Super Market during the clashes.
The photo of a man in his mid-twenties, wearing jeans and an olive-colour T-shirt hacking Nahid went viral on social media.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch additional deputy commissioner for Dhanmondi zone Mohammad Fazle Elahi said that after analyzing video footage of the attack, investigators could identify the man as Emon.
The Rapid Action Battalion and DB police raided Dhaka College hostels on Saturday night and Sunday in search of Emon and two other students who allegedly beat Nahid with rod iron and brickbats during the clashes.
The security agencies, however, did not confirm arresting any suspect during the raids.
Dhaka College South Hall provost Anwar Mahmud said that the law enforcers raided room no. 101 of International Hall and seized a cellphone and some other devices belonging to Emon.
Another student Jahir Hasan Jewel, a student of the management department and a resident of International Hall, was also taken to DB custody, the teacher said.
At least six students of Dhaka College were detained and interrogated by law enforcement agencies, said police, adding that some of them were released later.
Members of BCL’s dissolved Dhaka College committee Jashim Uddin, Jewel and joint convener Samad Azad Julfikar, were among the ones to be taken to DB custody for interrogations, said teachers and students of the college.
Emon is a follower of Julfikar.
Sharif Mohammad Farukuzzaman, New Market Zone assistant commissioner of DMP, said after scrutinising video footage and other evidence they identified several people involved in clashes.
Video footage of the incident showed Emon first attacking the courier serviceman and then hacking him.
Two other Chhatra League men, who had beaten Nahid, were identified as Kayyum and Sujon Islam.
Kayyum had beaten Nahid with rod iron while Sujon hit him with a brickbat and kicked him.
The series of clashes between Dhaka College students and New Market traders that started on Monday night and continued until Tuesday evening left two youth dead and over 100 injured.
Dhaka College teachers’ association general secretary Quddus Sikder said that law enforcers have visited the college campus and talked with some students about the incident. Some of them were taken and released later.
Meanwhile, panic-gripped students of Dhaka College have started to vacate halls after the names of those involved with Nahid’s murder were revealed.
Many left the hostels on Saturday night and Sunday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the College authorities asked the students to vacate halls amid violence with traders in the New Market area.
The students, however, stayed hall rejecting the instruction.
A third-year student of management said that many students left the halls early Sunday as police started raiding the halls and different video footage showed the involvement of the involved in the murder.
SM Kayyum, the officer-in-charge of the New Market police station, said that they were interrogating BNP leader Mokbul Hassan in a case filed over assault on police during the violence.
The traders alleged that some Dhaka College students continued extortion and taking clothing items without paying money even after the clashes.
Bangladesh Shop Owners’ Association president Mohammad Helal Uddin said that some students went to a shop in Nur Jahan Super Market on Thursday, the day markets resumed business, and took eight panjabis without any payment.
He said ‘this is a common trend. We feel sad when the students also physically assault traders.’
Helal said that it was becoming clear gradually who was involved in violence on Monday and Thursday.
RAB legal and media wing director Khandaker Al Moin said that they were analyzing footage of the clashes and identified some people involved in the violence and were trying to arrest them.
