Families of victims hope for justice

The news of bringing Nur Hossain back from India has made the families of the Narayanganj seven-murder victims hopeful about justice.

Shahidul Islam, the father-in-law of slain Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam, told the Daily Star, "We have already heard the news about Nur Hossain's deportation and we are happy".

He expected the "real truth" and names of the masterminds would be revealed soon.

Ismail Ahemd Ronny, the teenage son of another victim Ibrahim, "I hope justice will be served soon."

"After my father's death, we have not received any compensation and my mother has to work as a domestic help to pay for my education," said the boy who is sitting the ongoing JSC exams.

Abdus Salam, younger brother of Nazrul Islam, hoped that the real masterminds of the killings could be revealed if Nur Hossain was interrogated.

"But I hope Nur Hossain does not get killed in a 'crossfire' before revealing the motives behind the murders," he said.

On April 27 last year, Nazrul Islam and his four aides, and a senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were kidnapped from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road in broad daylight.

All of them were killed and their bodies were recovered from the Shitalakkhya River on April 29 and 30.

The other victims were Moniruzzaman Swapan, Tajul Islam, Liton, Jahangir and Ibrahim.

Nur Hossain, a former councilor of Narayanganj City Corporation, is the prime accused in the murder case.

Another victim Moniruzzaman Swapan's brother Mizanur Rahman Ripon said, "We are yet to know why they were killed. We neither know how much money was paid to the killers nor the people who provided the money."

He said the Rab (Rapid Action Battalion) officials who confessed to their crimes had only revealed how they had abducted the victims and killed them while the rest of the story was still unknown.