Protesters Siege Police Station Bearing Dead Body of Student Leader

PIRGACHA, RANGPUR — Outraged relatives, local political activists, and residents laid siege to the Pirgacha Police Station in Rangpur on Saturday morning, transporting the corpse of a student political leader in an ambulance and demanding a thorough judicial inquiry into his tragic death.

The deceased, 29-year-old Monarul Islam Boksi, was the vice-president of the Savar Upazila unit of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Monarul died on Thursday night after falling from the roof of a residential building inside the Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) campus in Savar, Dhaka, during a joint police raid. His father, Jafar Ali Boksi, works as a security guard at the institution and resided in an allocated flat within the compound, where Monarul lived with him. The family originally hails from Dakshin Hatibandha village in Gaibandha’s Sundarganj upazila.

Grief turned to anger as an ambulance carrying Monarul’s corpse stopped in front of the Pirgacha Police Station at around 8:00 am on Saturday. Monarul’s father broke down in tears over his son’s body inside the vehicle, wailing that officers had taken bribes and caused his son’s demise. Within minutes, over 150 people from his ancestral village, located over ten kilometres away, gathered outside the station to join the protest. The situation briefly escalated into a tense standoff between the crowd and law enforcement, before local political leaders stepped in to defuse the atmosphere.

Allegations of Foul Play and Alternative Accounts

The victim’s family contends that Monarul was deliberately pushed off the roof during the raid. According to Monarul’s brother, Mamdel Hossain Boksi, the dispute originated from a romantic relationship between Monarul’s nephew and a teenage girl from Pirgacha. The young couple had reportedly married of their own free will and were staying in Savar.

Mamdel alleged that the girl’s father, identified as Mintu, accompanied a police team from Pirgacha and Savar to the BPATC quarter. He claimed that an altercation occurred on the rooftop between Mintu, police personnel, and Monarul, during which Monarul was forcefully pushed over the edge. Mamdel stated that after his brother fell, the raiding party instructed the family to take him to the hospital before hastily departing the scene.

Monarul was rushed to the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, where attending physicians pronounced him dead. Following an autopsy on Friday, Savar Model Police handed the body over to his relatives, who transported it to Dakshin Hatibandha for burial after Saturday’s Zuhr prayers.

Police Response and Formal Inquiries

Law enforcement officials present a different narrative of the evening’s events. According to police sources, officers from Savar Model Police Station and Pirgacha Police Station conducted a joint raid at the BPATC quarter following a general diary (GD) filed in Pirgacha regarding the missing teenage girl.

Investigators stated that while officers were questioning Monarul’s father inside the flat regarding the girl’s whereabouts, a loud thud was heard outside. Officers rushed downstairs to discover Monarul lying unconscious on the ground. To determine the precise sequence of events and assess any potential misconduct, police authorities have constituted a five-member internal investigation committee.

Selim Malik, Officer-in-Charge of Pirgacha Police Station, stated that the demonstrators brought the ambulance to the station seeking answers about the raid. He explained that family members inquired about the grounds for the Pirgacha police team travelling to Savar, the nature of the intelligence gathered, and the identities of the officers involved. He added that after officers provided clarifications, the crowd dispersed peacefully with the body.

Mofassirul Islam, Member Secretary of the Pirgacha Upazila Chhatra Dal, demanded an impartial investigation to hold those responsible accountable, emphasizing that while the actual perpetrators must face justice, innocent individuals should not suffer harassment.

By Saturday evening, no formal case or complaint had been lodged regarding the incident. Saiful Alam, Officer-in-Charge of Savar Model Police Station, confirmed that no official charges had been filed yet. Monarul’s elder brother explained that funeral arrangements had delayed legal action, but confirmed that the family intends to file a formal murder case with Savar Model Police Station shortly.