Journo Killing: Accused mayor held in city

Police last night arrested Shahzadpur municipality Mayor Halimul Haque Miru, prime accused in the journalist Abdul Hakim Shimul murder case.

A team of Sirajganj police picked him up around 8:25pm at the capital's Shyamoli, said Wahiduzzaman, additional deputy commissioner (Tejgaon division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

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Miru, who won the mayoral race with Awami League ticket, allegedly shot fires during a factional clash in Shahzadpur on Thursday.

Shimul, a reporter of the daily Samakal who was covering the clash, was hit by several bullets and later died from his injuries on Friday on his way to Dhaka for better treatment, police and family members said.

The incident sparked a nationwide protest by journalists and drew condemnation from various quarters.

Shimul's wife filed a case accusing Miru, his two brothers and 15 others on Friday night.

Police earlier arrested eight other suspects including Miru's two brothers -- Habibul Haque Mintu and Hasibul Haque Pintu. Their role in the shooting is not yet clear.

Meanwhile, Shahzadpur upazila AL at an emergency meeting yesterday suspended Miru from the party and recommended that the district AL expel him and his close aide KM Nasir Uddin from the party.

“The upazila Awami League made the recommendation because the two violated the party rules,” local lawmaker Hasibur Rahman Swapan told journalists after the meeting.

But Abdul Latif Biswas, president of Sirajganj district AL, said they had no power to expel Miru because he also holds the post of the district AL's organising secretary. 

“The central committee of the party will make that decision,” he told The Daily Star.

Miru started his political career with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and joined the AL in the early 1990s.

A video, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, of the clash shows him with a firearm. In the two-minute clip obtained by The Daily Star, Miru is seen wearing a brown blazer and white pyjamas. He is also seen walking with the gun behind a group of people who were chasing their rivals with sharp weapons.

The Daily Star could not independently verify the footage.

Primary investigation suggests the bullet that eventually killed Shimul may have been fired from Miru's house.

Lawmaker Swapan also held the mayor responsible for Shimul's death.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim visited Shimul's family on Saturday night and expressed his condolence.

He also assured Shimul's widow that he would help her get a job.

PROTEST CONTINUES

Journalists continued to protest the shooting in different parts of the country.

At a rally at Samakal's office at the capital's Tejgaon, Shimul's colleagues demanded justice for his death.

Its Editor Golam Sarwar said, "Shimul was a member of the Samakal family. We lost our brother. Justice must be done.”

Journalists in Rajshahi, Pabna, Chapainawabganj, Lalmonirhat, Narayanganj, Patuakhali, Brahmanbaria, Khagrachhari, Chittagong, Comilla and Jahangirnagar University also held protest rallies.

[Our correspondents from Pabna, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Narayanganj, Lalmonirhat, Patuakhali, Brahmanbaria, Khagracchari, Chittagong, Comilla and JU contributed to this report]