The Voice News: In a bizarre and deeply disturbing turn of events, a man who was falsely reported as killed during a political protest has surfaced alive and well—operating a small grocery shop in rural Bangladesh. Md. Sulaiman Hossain Selim, the man at the center of this controversy, is now demanding justice and exemplary punishment for those who declared him dead in a fabricated murder case involving high-profile political figures.
On August 30 last year, Golam Mostafa—alias Mostu (52)—filed a murder case at Jatrabari Police Station in Dhaka, alleging that his younger brother, Md. Selim, had been shot dead during a student-led protest on August 3 near the Kajla petrol pump in the capital. The case named 41 individuals, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, along with 150–200 unidentified others. Shockingly, two of Selim’s other brothers, Helal Uddin (55) and Abul Hossain (54), were listed as witnesses to his supposed death.
However, contrary to these claims, the alleged victim—Md. Selim—is alive. He currently resides in Fulbaria Upazila of Mymensingh district, where he runs a modest grocery store in Beltoli Bazaar. When this startling revelation recently came to public attention, it sparked widespread outrage and disbelief, not just in his local community but nationwide.
Speaking to local journalists on Saturday, May 31, the man—whose full legal name is Md. Sulaiman Hossain Selim, son of the late Abdul Hakim of Dhamar village in Fulbaria—shared his ordeal, accusing his siblings of attempting to seize his inheritance by legally “killing” him. Notably, the murder case identifies him simply as “Md. Selim,” which aligns with his commonly known name.
“Mostu is a notorious criminal with a history of involvement in multiple murders and armed robberies,” Selim claimed. “He hasn’t set foot in our village in 15 years. Yet now, with the help of my other two brothers, he is trying to take over my property. As I have no male heirs, they are coercing me to transfer everything to their names. Their relentless harassment forced me to abandon my ancestral home and resettle in Beltoli Bazaar, where I purchased a small plot and opened this grocery store to survive.”
Selim went on to accuse his brothers of plotting to declare him dead in order to fast-track their scheme. “I believe they would have killed me if they had the chance. Their intentions became clear, and since then I’ve been extremely cautious. What’s even more baffling is how the police accepted such an outrageous and false claim without any verification.”
As a consequence of the bogus case, Selim has found himself trapped in a web of bureaucratic and legal harassment. “I’ve had to visit Jatrabari Police Station and the Detective Branch (DB) office five times just to prove that I’m alive. Despite all this, the ordeal hasn’t ended. I’m living in constant anxiety. I demand swift and exemplary punishment for those who conspired to erase my existence on paper and push me toward social and legal oblivion.”
This case has raised serious concerns about the vulnerabilities within the justice system—particularly how legal instruments can be misused for personal vendettas and property disputes. It also underscores the urgent need for stricter scrutiny in accepting and processing criminal complaints, especially those involving alleged deaths.
Selim’s story, both shocking and tragic, is a stark reminder of the human cost of unchecked corruption, family betrayal, and systemic failures in law enforcement.