Tofazzal lynching at DU: 2 accused get bail after surrendering to court

A Dhaka court today (5 April) granted bail to two accused in connection with the mob lynching of a mentally unstable youth named Tofazzal, who was beaten to death on suspicion of theft at Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall of Dhaka University.

The accused are DU students Md Abu Raihan, 23, and Redwanur Rahman Parvez, 24, both residential students of the hall.

They surrendered before the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Zakir Hossain today through their lawyer and sought bail, after which the court granted them bail until the next scheduled hearing in the case, confirmed State Prosecutor Md Harun-or-Rashid.

The state prosecutor said the accused appeared before the court and applied for bail through their lawyer Mohammad Ali Babu, which the prosecution opposed.

After hearing both sides, the court granted them bail until the next date on a bond of Tk5,000, with Redwanur Rahman Parvez listed as the third accused in the FIR and Md Abu Raihan as the ninth accused.

According to the case details, on 18 September 2024 at around 7:45pm, Tofazzal was beaten to death on suspicion of theft.

The following day, on 19 September, a case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station by university Estate Office Supervisor Mohammad Amanullah.

After investigation, Shahbagh Police Station Inspector Md Asaduzzaman submitted a charge sheet to the court on 30 December last year, accusing 21 Dhaka University students.

However, citing flaws in the investigation, the DU administration filed a no-confidence petition against the police-submitted charge sheet.

On 26 February last year, then Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Saifuzzaman ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation to reinvestigate the case.

Additional Superintendent of Police of the PBI Hannanal Islam submitted a fresh charge sheet on 15 December against 28 accused, including seven new individuals.

The case statement said that on 18 September 2024 at around 7:45pm, a young man was roaming suspiciously near the gate of Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall. At that time, some students detained him and first took him to the guest room of the main building of the hall. Accusing him of stealing a mobile phone, they slapped and beat him indiscriminately. During questioning, the youth identified himself as Tofazzal. Realising that he was mentally ill, he was taken to the hall canteen and given food. Later, he was taken to a guest room in the south building of the hall, where some unruly students tied his hands to a window and brutally beat him with stamps, hockey sticks and sticks, leaving him unconscious.

A few days later, on 25 September, the victim's cousin Mosammat Asma Akter filed a case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Akhtaruzzaman against 15 individuals, including Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall Provost Prof Shah Muhammad Masum.

The court recorded the complainant's statement and ordered that the case be investigated together with the one filed by the university authorities.