It has been 45 years since, on this very day in 1975, four national leaders were assassinated at the Dhaka Central Jail.
It has also been more than 16 years since a trial court handed down punishment to the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
But justice still eludes the nation as the government could implement the verdict of only one, Captain Abdul Majed, of the 11 convicted killers of the four national leaders — Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, AHM Quamruzzaman and M Mansur Ali.
Majed, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the jail killing case, was arrested on April 7 this year after decades of absconding. Four days after his arrest, Majed, also a convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was executed in connection with Bangabandhu murder case.
Other than Majed, the progress has not been satisfactory.
It is believed that all the convicts are hiding abroad, and the government has so far traced the whereabouts of only two — Rashed Chowdhury in the USA and Noor Chowdhury in Canada — but has failed to bring them back due to some legal tangles.
Against this backdrop, the nation is observing the 45th anniversary of the Jail Killing Day today to mourn the four leading figures of the Liberation War.
According to the first information, five army personnel, wearing Khaki uniforms and carrying STEN guns and SLRs (self-loading rifles), arrived at the erstwhile Dhaka Central Jail around 4:00am on November 3, 1975.
The five, including one who introduced himself as Captain Muslemuddin, attached to the Bangabhaban, entered the jail and brutally killed four persons, says the FIR.❐
