Desk report
Ashraf Hossain Chowdhury Tushar, the main mastermind behind the murder, kidnapped the child Nashit and posted a message on his Facebook ID asking for his whereabouts. Three days after Nashit was kidnapped, Tushar shared a post by Nashit’s brother Nishat on his Facebook ID and wrote, “If any of you have found my younger brother, please contact me immediately.”
Police recovered the body of Ahnaf Al-Maein Nasheed from a pond near the Dewanganj railway line in Feni’s suburbs on Thursday afternoon. Since then, there has been a lot of discussion and criticism about the main accused in the incident, Tushar.
Since the arrest of Tushar, he has shared three posts on social media, including two posts by Nasheed’s father and brother, on Facebook, asking for his whereabouts. In one, Tushar wrote, “May Allah, by your mercy, return our younger brother to us.” In another, he wrote, “If any of you have found my younger brother, please contact us immediately.”
Tushar is the son of Iqbal Hossain of Atiqul Alam Road in the city’s Academy area. He was active in Feni Municipality Chhatra Dal politics. Tushar Arafat Rahman was the co-promotion secretary of the Coco Smriti Sangsad and the former sports secretary of the Chittagong South Zia Smriti Sangsad.
According to police sources, on December 8, Nashit went to pray at the local Baitul Khair Jame Mosque after finishing his coaching class at the Lighthouse on Atiqul Alam Road in the city’s Academy area. On his way home after the prayers, the previously known accused Tushar and his associates kidnapped Nashit and took him to the Dewanganj area and mixed drugs with juice to make him unconscious. Later, they took a picture of Nashit and sent it to his father Main Uddin Sohag’s WhatsApp number and demanded a ransom of Tk 1.2 million. At one stage, they strangled him to death and threw his body into a pond next to the railway line. To prevent the body from floating in the water, they buried the student’s school bag with stones.
There has been mixed reactions in the public about Tushar’s relationship with the top leaders of Feni’s BNP and its affiliates. When asked about the pictures and closeness with him on social media, District Jubo Dal General Secretary Nasir Uddin Khandaker said, “As a political activist, Tushar used to come to me like others. That’s why he took pictures with me. However, I don’t know about his personal life.”
When asked about this, District Chhatra Dal General Secretary Morshed Alam Milon said, “Although Tushar is involved in Chhatra Dal politics, he is not currently holding any position. He used to participate in party programs anyway. We are not in favor of any criminal act. We demand his punishment.”
Police said that Nashit’s father, Main Uddin Sohag, filed a missing person’s diary with Feni Model Police Station on December 9. Then, he called Nashit’s father from a mobile number for two days and demanded a ransom of Tk 12 lakh. Later, last night, the deceased’s father, Main Uddin Sohag, informed the police about the suspicion of a teenager named Tushar. When Tushar was taken into police custody at night for questioning, according to the information he gave, Nashit’s body along with his school bag was recovered from a pond in the Dewanganj area.
The other arrested in the incident are Mobarak Hossain Wasim (20) and Omar Faruk Rifat (20).
Meanwhile, on Thursday night, around 9:30 pm, leaders and activists of the Islamic Students’ Movement marched around the main road from the city’s Trunk Road demanding justice for those involved in Nashit’s murder. Before that, the first janaza was held at the Feni GA Academy School ground after Maghrib and the burial of Nashit was completed after the janaza at the Joypur Ansar Ali Fakir Jame Mosque ground in Fulgazi Sadar Union at 9 pm.
The deceased Nashit is the younger son of Main Uddin Sohag of Ansar Ali Fakir house in Joypur village in Sadar Union of Fulgazi Upazila of Feni. Nashit had been living with his family in a rented house in the Academy area of Feni Municipality for a long time.
