NARAYANGANJ — A local leader of Islami Jubo Andolan Bangladesh was hacked to death in Narayanganj’s Bandar area Thursday night, triggering protests and a blockade of the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway the following day. Police later arrested nine people, including the alleged leader of a local juvenile gang, in connection with the killing.
The victim, Mujahidul Islam, also known as Bulbul, was attacked with sharp weapons in the Salehnagar area of Bandar. He was taken to Narayanganj General Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Bulbul was the law and human rights affairs secretary of the organization’s Bandar unit and the son of the late Raja Master of the Shahi Mosque area in Bandar.
Police arrested nine people, including Sheikh Sifat, described as the leader of a local juvenile gang and a principal suspect in the killing. The other named detainees were Ifran, Jummon, Mahfuz, Riyad and Siam. Three women described by police as associates of Sifat were also detained, but their identities were not immediately disclosed.
Family links killing to earlier case
Bulbul’s relatives alleged that the killing was connected to a criminal case he filed following an attack and looting at his rickshaw garage during the unrest in August 2024.
According to his family, Bulbul was active in the violent anti-Awami League movement at the time. His garage was subsequently attacked, however, and 18 rickshaws were allegedly looted by people involved in the same movement.
On Aug. 20, 2024, Bulbul filed a case with Bandar Police Station naming several people. Sheikh Sifat was among those accused in the case.
Family members alleged that Bulbul had since faced repeated pressure to withdraw the case and had received death threats.
According to his relatives, Bulbul was alone in Salehnagar on Thursday night when a group surrounded him. An argument reportedly broke out after he was pressured to withdraw the case. The attackers then allegedly struck him repeatedly with sharp weapons before fleeing.
Local residents found him critically injured and took him to the hospital.
Police have not independently established the family’s account of the motive behind the killing.
Additional Superintendent of Police Tarek Al Mehedi said an investigation was underway to determine why Bulbul was killed and identify everyone involved.
“Police have arrested Sheikh Sifat in connection with the incident. We are working to arrest others involved,” Mehedi told The Voice on Friday. “An investigation is underway to determine the motive for the killing and identify the other people involved.”
Police subsequently announced that the number of arrests had risen to nine.
Killing triggers protests and highway blockade
News of the killing sparked protests in Bandar on Thursday night.
Local residents and Islami Andolan activists took to the streets and burned tires. Protesters also attacked, vandalized and set fire to houses belonging to Sifat and some of his relatives, according to local reports. Additional police were deployed to bring the situation under control.
The protests continued Friday morning as Islami Andolan leaders, activists and local residents gathered at Madanpur and blocked the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
Demonstrators burned tires on the highway and demanded the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of everyone involved in Bulbul’s killing. The blockade disrupted traffic and caused long queues of vehicles in both directions.
Police later persuaded the protesters to leave the highway. Mehedi said police brought the situation under control and traffic returned to normal.
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