BNP man held for murder denied bail

By Mizan Rahman/Dhaka

Villagers gather after crowds attacked a train and set it on fire, protesting the murder of municipality mayor Lokman Hossain in Narsingdi

A court in Narsingdi district town yesterday rejected a bail petition by district Bangladesh Nationalist Party president Khairul Kabir Khokon arrested from Dhaka city yesterday in connection with the assassination of Narsingdi mayor Lokman Hossain, an Awami League leader.The court of the chief judicial magistrate sent him to jail after rejecting his bail prayer, which was moved by over 100 lawyers.Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Khokon from his Khilgaon Chowdhury Para residence in the capital early yesterday for the killing of Lokman Hossain.Later, he was sent to district jail from Dhaka.He was shown arrested under Section 54 (suspicion) and police submitted a report to the court stating they suspected his involvement in the killing.A hearing on a five-day remand which was sought by police was scheduled to be held yesterday, but the hearing has been deferred to November 9.Although Khokon has been arrested, almost all dailies in Bangladesh yesterday say rivalry inside the Narsingdi unit of the Awami League led to the murder.A tough stance against the local drug cartel and a recent move to shift the district bus-terminal by Mayor Lokman Hossain was likely behind his killing, locals said.Lokman, also the general secretary of the district Awami League, earned the enmity of a number of influential people including some of his party leaders because of a number of steps he took recently.They admitted that Lokman earned the wrath of an influential section of the district Awami League leaders for his various pro-people moves, and consequently when the district unit unofficially split into two, he emerged as the leader of one of the two factions.According to locals, the real hitch between the two rival groups, one led by the present member of the Parliament (MP) of Narshingdi-5 and the other led by Lokman Hossain started during the second term of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) when the then local BNP MP Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan helped Lokman eradicate drug dealers from Narsingdi.Although an MP from a rival party, Mannan Bhuiyan, now deceased, patronised Lokman to free Kauria Para area of drug dealers and build a municipal college there.Another den at Baniachal area was emptied to make way for a Municipal Eidgah (place for prayers). Both the dens were allegedly powered by some local influential people identified as the men of MP Raziuddin Ahmed Raju.It is also learnt that Lokman received a lot of support from the local BNP to win the mayoral election. The main objective of the BNP in supporting Lokman in the mayoral election was to neutralize Raju MP, it is learnt.Elimination of drug business was very popular amongst people in Narsingdi and his popularity went up.After Lokman was elected Mayor, another problem arose between the two Awami League leaders when Lokman initiated moving of the Narsingdi Bus Stand and set it up in a new place. It is learnt that the old bus stand area was a stronghold of Raju MP and his people.Recently, Shamim Newaj, younger brother of Lokman and general secretary of District Chhatra League, student front of the Awami League, got into a tangle with pro-Raju group leaders Lenin and Sazzad Hussain. After that Lokman and his supporters organised processions at Narsindi against Raju MP and also declared him unwanted at Narsingdi.According to the local people, the reason for the killing of Lokman was a combination of many factors and all of them point to internal rivalry in the ruling party at the local level.Kamrul Islam, younger brother of deceased Lokman told the media after the namaj-e-janaja that the matter was crystal clear. “We know who killed my brother. My mother knows it very well and she will tell everything to the prime minister in detail,” he said.Zahirul Haq Mohan, the Narshingdi-3 MP, however refuted the allegation of any intra-party conflict. “Lokman was a very good member of the AL family and extremely popular. We cannot believe that somebody from Awami League can ever kill him,” he told newsmen.“Every big party can have some internal conflicts. We have to live with that. But there was nothing that could lead to a killing of a popular leader like Lokman,” he claimed.