MP Gazi Nazrul, first wife taken under police custody

The police on Sunday night took Satkhira-4 lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam, and his first wife under custody to question them in connection with the death of the former Jamaat-e-Islami leader’s second wife.

Mizanur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Division under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed the development at a press conference.

The body of Mst Mariam Khatun, 19, the second wife of Gazi Nazrul, 74, was found hanging from the ceiling of a flat in the NAB Bhaban complex, where lawmakers reside, in the capital earlier in the day.

When the body was discovered, Gazi Nazrul was staying at a nearby room in the same apartment, said Sher-e-Bangla Police Station Officer-in-Charge Monirul Islam.

The apparent suicide took place around Sunday noon, Monirul Islam told reporters after the body discovered.

Another police personnel present at the site told reporters that Gazi Nazrul ate lunch with both his wives in the same apartment at noon.

Around 3:30pm, he went to the next room with his first wife, or all three went to different rooms, as per the policeman's statement.

Around 5pm, Gazi Nazrul noticed that the room where Mariam was staying was locked from the inside. Peeping through the window, he saw the 19-year-old's body hanging from the ceiling fan, and promptly informed the police.

In July, multiple videos went viral on social media showing Gazi Nazrul with a young girl, whom he later identified as his second wife. On 22 July, Jamaat-e-Islami expelled him from all posts within the party, citing “unethical conduct.”

Since then, he has continued to serve in the Satkhira-4 constituency as an independent lawmaker.

On Sunday, Gazi Nazrul submitted a bail bond at a Dhaka court in an attempted murder case filed by Mariam’s maternal uncle, Obaidur Rahman.

Gazi Nazrul had secured an eight-week-bail period from the court on 10 August.

Obaidur Rahman, also the former driver of Gazi Nazrul’s car, filed the case on 21 July, alleging that the lawmaker and his four associates tried to murder him by strangling on suspicions that he was behind the secret filming of Gazi Nazrul’s intimate moments with Mariam.

In the case statement, Obaidur also alleged that Gazi Nazrul came into contact with Obaidur’s niece, Mariam, during frequent visits to the house of Obaidur’s sister at Rose Garden Tower, Kalshi in the capital.

Obaidur used to temporarily reside at the residence of his sister, he said.

Upon noticing Gazi Nazrul’s communications with Mariam, his niece, Obaidur informed the girl’s family and also requested the lawmaker to discontinue the relationship. The moves angered Gazi Nazrul and he issued death threats against Obaidur, he alleged in the case statement.