After the massacre in Savar's Ashulia, the names of the actors who were hiding are coming out one by one in the case of counting the dead bodies and taking them in vans and setting them on fire.
One of the massacres carried out by the Hasina government by shutting down the internet was the burning of a pile of dead bodies in front of the Ashulia police station. The name of the then Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, AFM Saed, has emerged as the 'mastermind' of this incident, which has created a storm of discussion across the country.
OC AFM Saed, who is known as a close friend of former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, is getting trapped after resorting to various tricks and deceptions to avoid his own responsibility and influence the incident in different sectors. This police officer has already covered up his involvement in this incident. However, law enforcement agencies including immigration have already been asked to increase surveillance on the matter.
According to eyewitnesses, on that afternoon, when several videos of more bodies being removed from the pile of corpses and later being burnt came to light, there created an uproar across the country. He directly participated as the director of this hellish event. He performed misdeed in civil dress. He was wearing a blue polo shirt and black trousers. Bandage on one hand. There was a wireless set in the trouser pocket. He smoked one cigarette after another in great tension.
Eye-witness accounts of four policemen, inspector, sub-inspector and constable, who were present at the scene, gave the picture of that day. On condition of anonymity, they said that the then officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, Saed, was in charge of the incident that happened that day, including taking the dead body to the van.
It was on his orders that the then In-charge Sub-Inspector (SI) of Ashulia Police Investigation Center Arafatuddin and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Monir of Ashulia Police Station procured petrol to dispose of the body. Petrol was brought in plastic bottles. Petrol was sprinkled on the van three times.
Answering the questions of the police officers, OC AFM Saed had been saying, 'He was inside the police station at the time of the incident. He was wearing a police uniform. He did not know anything about the heap of dead bodies and even the burning of dead bodies.
However, evidence and eyewitness accounts suggest the opposite. Now the whole incident is taking a different turn as the witness policemen themselves opened up.
For the sake of anonymity, an officer of the post of sub-inspector said, "OC Saed was directly involved in the incident of taking the dead body in the van and setting it on fire after the shooting." I saw with my own eyes, when Constable Mukul of Ashulia police station was picking up the dead bodies in the pile of vans, he was restlessly walking ahead. He was holding one cigarette after another in tension.
In the 1 minute 14 second video of the pile of bodies that went viral, the person walking after 1 minute, wearing a blue T- shirt, is then Officer-in-Charge (OC) Saed. He was accompanied by Ashulia Police Inspector (Investigation) Masudur Rahman and Police Inspector Operations Nirmal Kumar Das.
Another sub-inspector, who did not want to be named due to security reasons, said that when the bodies along with the van were burnt on the east side of the police station, I saw with my own eyes the OC Saed of Ashulia police station and the then in-charge sub-inspector (SI) of Ashulia police investigation center Arafatuddin. There was petrol in the bottle in his pant pocket
A sub-inspector of the detective police, who did not wish to be named, said that the entire DB team was tired due to the continuous duty of several days without rest. OC Saed sent a requisition for additional force to the unit commander, the then Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime & Ops & Traffic, Northern Division) of Dhaka District, Abdullahil Kafi Sir, who was promoted as Supernumerary Superintendent of Police, forcibly sent us to Ashulia for duty. He scolded one of our officers saying that he did not have the physical and mental strength to do duty. Compelled, we head towards Ashulia.
As the road was occupied by the student crowd, we had to turn around from Savar to Dhamrai and go back to Ashulia police station. We reached 2 am on August 4 and reported to OC Ashulia. The next day, August 5, around 10:30 AM, AFM Saed Sir on a hand mike ordered the policemen to assemble in front of the police station.
Apart from police stations and outposts, members of the Intelligence Police, Tourist Police and Range Reserve Force (RRF) were present there. On the instructions of Saed Sir, we were stationed at Nabinagar- Chandra Highway to deal with the 'March to Dhaka' program called by the anti-discrimination student movement.
In the afternoon, when the news of the fall of the government spread, a large number of people marched towards the police station. Ashulia police station OC Saed was in charge at the east side of the police station. Inspector (Investigation) Masudur Rahman and Police Inspector Operations Nirmal Kumar Das were with him.
At one point, OC Saed raised his hands in surrender to the angry student crowd and said, "You have won, we have lost." Now everyone goes home.' But as the crowd towards the police station continued to increase, the students became aggressive. At that time, several people died when the police fired in self-defense. After they dispersed, the scattered bodies were piled into a van and transferred to a police vehicle and set on fire.
According to sources, OC Saed joined the police station on the instructions of the government after the interim government took charge. Among them, a video on Facebook on August 30 spread out It can be seen that the police helmet is on the head. A man wearing a police vest over a white shirt is swinging by the hands of a frozen young man onto a van with the help of another man. A few more frozen bodies piled onto the van. Some parts of the road are wet with blood dripping from the bodies. They are covered with a sheet like a bed sheet. A few others wearing police helmets and vests are nearby.
The 1 minute and 14 second video that went viral caused a storm of discussion all over the country, but many people were completely sure about the exact location of the incident until then.
A fact by identifying Dhaka District (North) Detective Police (DB) Inspector (Investigation) Arafat Hossain who was walking with a helmet on the side of the Eid-ul-Azha greeting poster with the photo of Abul Hossain, a candidate for the post of Ward No. 7 of Ashulia's Dhamsona Union. -Dhaka District Police was shaken after the checking editor Kadruddin Shishir mentioned on his Facebook timeline that the incident happened in the area near Ashulia police station on August 5.
AFM Saed was removed from Ashulia police station on September 1, transferred to 14 Armed Police Battalion (APBN) in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar. On the same day, an investigation committee of four members was formed headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (DSB) and Sajedur Rahman, who was promoted to the post of Superintendent of Police.
According to sources, OC AFM Saed's influence, prestige and threats were initially feared by many to open up. Many were afraid of the unknown. The investigation committee is collecting various evidences of the incident including the statement of eyewitnesses. However, the investigation committee repeatedly called AFM Saed to testify, but he did not respond. He did not even join the 14 Armed Police Battalion in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Intelligence Police (DB) arrested the then Additional Superintendent of Police (currently suspended and in remand) Abdullah Hill Kafi from Shahjalal International Airport while trying to flee the country on the night of September 2. On the other hand, RAB arrested Dhaka District Detective Police (North) Inspector (Investigation) Arafat Hossain in the morning of September 13 from Aftabnagar in the capital, who was involved in the burning of dead bodies in Ashulia.
However, the mastermind of the incident, the then Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, AFM Saed, remains out of touch.
It is learned that AFM Saed served continuously in Dhaka district for 10 years 10 months 6 days under former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. During this time, he alternately served as Second Officer of Ashulia Police Station, Officer-in-Charge of Detective Police Dhaka North, Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia Police Station and Officer-in-Charge of Savar Model Police Station.
According to police headquarters sources, AFM Saed joined Jashore District Police Line as SI on March 5, 2006. Satkhira joined Police Lines on November 6 of the same year after being transferred to Range Reserve Force Khulna on March 26, 2008. He was transferred to Bagerhat Police Lines on October 4 the following year. After being transferred to the crime department of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on October 31, 2009, he did not look back.
When AFM Saed, who is hiding in this regard, was contacted on WhatsApp, he said that he has no involvement in these incidents. Then he did not give any answer as to why he is running away without joining the new workplace.
When contacted, Additional Superintendent of Police (DSB) Sajedur Rahman, who has been promoted to the position of Head of the Investigation Committee, said that the incident is very sensitive. A thorough investigation is underway to bring those involved to justice. More than half a hundred police and eyewitnesses have already given their testimony. Stating that there has been some progress in the investigation, the police officer said that the investigation committee will also talk to AFM Saed if necessary.