Yet another leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party died in jail on Thursday night, bringing the number of BNP people’s deaths in custody since the party’s thwarted October 28 Dhaka grand rally to eight.
The deceased is Md Fazlur Rahman Kajal, 70, joint convener of the Mughda Thana unit of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal in Dhaka.
Confirming the matter Dhaka central jail prison guard Md Nazmul, who brought the BNP leader to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said that when Fazlur fell sick in the prison on Thursday morning, they took him to the hospital at about 9:30am.
The doctor on duty declared him dead around 11:00am.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, at a virtual press conference on Friday, alleged that the Sramik Dal leader died due to police torture.
Earlier on December 25, Gazipur BNP leader Md Shafiuddin Master died in jail.
On December 20, Md Motibul Mondol, 55, organising secretary of Najipur municipality ward-2 BNP unit in Patnitala upazila of Naogaon, died in jail custody.
On December 11, Md Monirul Islam, 52, a local BNP leader at Kakonhat municipality in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi, died in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital under jail custody.
On December 7, Abul Kalam Azad, 47, joint secretary of Hatiandaha union BNP at Singra in Natore, died at RMCH, nine days after he was admitted to the hospital in jail custody.
On December 1, Asaduzzaman Hira Khan, a BNP activist from Gazipur, died in Kashimpur Central Jail, one of the country’s largest high-security correctional facilities.
On November 25, another inmate, Golapur Rahman, 63, a BNP activist from Chattogram, died under similar circumstances at the same facility.
On November 30, Imtiaz Ahmed Bulbul, an activist from Dhaka, died six days after he was sent to Gazipur prison.
According to the Ain o Salish Kendra data, 93 prisoners died between January and November this year in police custody, marking the highest toll in recent years.
