Sonargaon Jubodal Leader Zahirul Murder: Case Filed Against 21, Chhatra Dal Leader Rizvi Named Prime Accused

A case has been filed naming 21 people over the hacking to death of Jubodal leader Fakir Zahirul Islam (45) in Sonargaon, Narayanganj. Rizvi, organising secretary of Kalapaharia Union Chhatra Dal in Araihazar, has been made the prime accused in the case. Another 8 to 10 unnamed people have also been accused. The victim's nephew Ismail Hossain filed the case as complainant at Sonargaon Police Station on Saturday evening.

The killing took place last Wednesday night in the Char Kishoreganj area of Shambhupura Union in Sonargaon Upazila. Zahirul's relatives allege that he was killed for announcing that he would contest an election against former Chhatra Dal leader Mobarak Hossain. The prime accused Rizvi is known as a close follower of Mobarak Hossain, a former member secretary of Araihazar Upazila Chhatra Dal.

The deceased Zahirul Islam was the son of Abdur Rahman of Khaliachar village in Kalapaharia Union of Araihazar Upazila. He was president of that union's Jubodal. He lived in a rented house in Munshiganj and ran a pharmacy at Charkishoreganj bazaar in Sonargaon. Although he lived away from his village home for business, the case statement says he remained active in local politics.

In the case statement, Zahirul's nephew Ismail alleged that because his uncle Fakir Zahirul Islam was a prospective chairman candidate in the upcoming Kalapaharia Union Parishad election, several people from the opposing side were pressuring him to withdraw from the election. Along with intimidation and threats at various times, a large sum of extortion money was also demanded from him, the statement said.

The history of an earlier dispute behind this killing was also presented in the statement. It said that on the evening of November 15, 2025, Rizvi and his men attacked Zahirul at the CNG stand adjacent to the old police station in Araihazar. Zahirul filed a case over that incident at Araihazar Police Station on November 29 that year as complainant. That case is currently under trial.

Ismail Hossain alleged that, in addition to the accused in that earlier case, other accused persons had also been trying to kill his uncle. For that reason, he did not stay at his village home and instead lived in the Charkishoreganj area of Sonargaon and ran his business there. He occasionally went to his village home and discussed his candidacy for chairman with local dignitaries. The statement alleged that this led Rizvi and the other accused to plan to kill him.

According to the statement, at around 8pm last Wednesday Zahirul closed his pharmacy and was walking home. At around 8:30pm, when he reached a dirt road near Darus Sunnah Khaled Siddiqui Model Madrasa in Kashenagar of Char Hogla area, 21 named accused led by Rizvi and several unnamed people blocked his path. The complainant alleged that they had various local weapons in their hands, including machetes, ramda, knives, da, iron rods and sticks.

The complainant alleged that the attackers hacked Zahirul indiscriminately with sharp weapons and beat him with sticks and iron rods, seriously injuring him. Thinking him dead, they left him on the road and fled. After the attack on the deserted dirt road, Zahirul remained lying there.

The statement said a passerby used Zahirul Islam's mobile phone on WhatsApp at around 8:45pm to call Ismail Hossain and inform him of the attack. Later, Ismail and several others went to the scene and, with the help of local people, took the injured Zahirul by autorickshaw to Munshiganj Sadar Hospital.

According to the complainant, on the way to hospital Zahirul Islam named several of the attackers and described how they had struck him. After he was taken to hospital, his condition deteriorated and doctors advised sending him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment. However, he died at Munshiganj Sadar Hospital while preparations were being made to take him to Dhaka.

A relative of the deceased Zahirul, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that they were pressured in various ways to drop Chhatra Dal leader Mobarak Hossain's name from the case statement. They said they would tell everything when the time comes. This allegation has made the case even more sensitive, because the relative's statement suggests that the name at the centre of the main dispute is not in the statement.

On this matter, Mohammad Abdul Barik, officer-in-charge of Sonargaon Police Station, said a case has been filed naming 21 people over the killing of Jubodal leader Zahirul Islam. Several unnamed people have also been accused. Police are conducting raids to arrest the accused. Attention will now be on how far the investigation proves the allegations in the statement, the history of the earlier case and the threats before the killing, and when the absconding accused are arrested.