A syndicate at Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity-2, led by its then General Manager (GM) Hasan Shah Nawaz, orchestrated a sinister plot against its chairman, who stood in the way of their unbridled corruption.

The story unfolded between 2018 and 2020 when the syndicate was involved in providing illegal electricity connections, embezzling money realised in fines and showing an inflated price of purchased land.

However, Samity Chairman Dr Nurul Islam Sheikh opposed the bad practices, which infuriated the syndicate and led it to hatch a conspiracy against him, according to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).

The racket lodged four cases, including two on rape charges, against Nurul, also the owner of Bangladesh Norway Friendship Hospital and Diagnostic Centre.

Three of the cases were filed using a single woman in separate names – Rabeya Akhter, Parvin Akhter and Sathi Akhter – while a drug trader was hired to sue Nurul on drug charges.

Police recovered the body of the woman from her house on 5 September 2021. The body bore injury marks, said the PBI, which is looking into whether the woman committed suicide or was killed in a pre-planned way.

On the other hand, police are not finding out the whereabouts of the drug trader.

Sources said the GM-led syndicate bought 200 decimals of land in Joydebpur for the Samity. The market price of each decimal land is Tk1.5 lakh but it showed the price at Tk3.99 lakh. One Jakir, a broker, was made director of the Samity, violating the rules. 

The GM provided illegal electricity connections in exchange for money on the one hand and fined the illegal users on the other hand, using his syndicate. A lion's portion of the fines was embezzled by him, said the sources.

Police arrested the drug trader, Raju Ahmed, 30, from Hotapara Bus Stand with 10 Yaba pills on 28 November 2018. 

Sub-Inspector of Joydebpur Police Station Abdul Halim filed a case the following day stating that Nurul had a connection with the arrestee and he (Nurul) was involved in the drug trade.

Nurul obtained anticipatory bail from the High Court. Later, the investigation officer (IO) did not find his involvement in the drug trade and dropped his name from the charge sheet.

Later, the network used the woman to file a case against Nurul with the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, Gazipur on 16 August 2020 as Sathi.

The woman claimed her as Nurul’s wife, alleging that he tortured her for dowry.

However, the IO found no proof of the allegation and instead, he submitted a final report before the court.

On 2 September 2020, the same woman, this time posing as Parvin, filed a rape case against Nurul, a charge only to be found false by the PBI.

On 27 September 2020, the woman lodged another rape case against Nurul with Sreepur Police Station using the name of Rabeya.

Police arrested him in the case two days later. After languishing in jail for eight days, he was released on bail.

But later, the IO found the rape allegations false and submitted a final report on 5 October 2020.

Nurul filed a writ petition with the HC on 12 September 2021 seeking action against the policemen and the syndicate members for harassing him by abusing the state machinery.

Later, the HC ordered the PBI to investigate the matter, which unearthed the conspiracy hatched by Shah Nawaz, Jakir Hossain alias ASM Mumit, Mohammavd Aynal, Advocate Asaduzzaman Biplob and some others, said PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder, also additional inspector general of police.

The syndicate used drug trader Raju and the woman to implement their plot, the PBI said.

On 27 August 2023, the HC directed the additional inspectors general of police (admin and PBI) and Gazipur superintendent of police to immediately initiate appropriate legal proceedings against Shah Nawaz, Aynal, Jakir and Biplob, after the PBI submitted its investigation report.

It asked the IGP to take action against SI Ekhlas Uddin Farazy for negligence in carrying out an investigation into the rape case filed with Sreepur Police Station.

After the judgement, Nurul Islam filed a case against Shah Nawaz, Aynal, Jakir, Biplob, Babul Hossain and Mohammad Selim at Joydebpur Police Station on 10 March this year.

Inspector of PBI Gazipur Rafiqul Islam is now investigating the case.

Rafiq told the Daily Sun that they arrested Selim on 16 April and he gave a confessional statement before the court.

During the investigation, the involvement of one Shyamal Kumar Shikder was found and he was arrested on 24 April. He gave a confessional statement too.

Abu Taher and Abul Kalam Azad, former assistant accountant of Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity-2, were also arrested.

About the death of the woman, the police officer said they were looking into whether she committed suicide or was killed.

The autopsy report states: “One oblique non-continuous ligature mark was found on the neck. Multiple bruises were found on different parts of the body. Burn injury was present on the left hand.”