In front of a magistrate, six Dhaka University students who were detained on suspicion of killing 35-year-old Tofazzal Hossain inside their residence hall on Wednesday admitted to their roles in the crime.
These include the physics department’s Muhammad Jalal Mia, the soil, water, and environment department’s Suman Mia, the mathematics department’s Mottakin Shakin, the nutrition and food science department’s Ahsanullah, and the geography and environment departments’ Al Hussain Sajjad and Wajibul Alam.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Saddam Hossain recorded confessional statements of the six in connection with the murder case after police produced them at his chamber, sub-inspector Saifur Rahman told The Daily Star.
The details of the statements could not be known immediately. After recording their statements, the magistrate also sent the accused students to jail, said the SI.
On Wednesday night, a group of DU students tortured Tofazzal to death at the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, thinking he was a thief.
However, his relatives say Tofazzal “lost his mind” after the death of his parents and brother and became a drifter.
A day after the brutal death, Mohammad Amanullah, a supervisor at the university’s estate office, filed a murder case with Sahbagh Police Station against some unidentified unruly students.
From 6:30pm onwards on Wednesday, the university students tortured him, paused for a while, made him walk from one building to another, fed him, and then tortured him again. The dorm authorities and proctor’s office were informed, but nothing was done to stop the lynching.
By the time the university administration took Tofazzal to Shahbagh Police Station, nearly five hours had passed and he was barely breathing. Police were surprised that the officials brought a dying man to a police station instead of taking him to a hospital.
CCTV footage shows that around 11:00pm, two students helping Tofazzal get into a vehicle of the proctor’s office. The vehicle went directly to Shahbagh Police Station.
As per Dhaka Medical College Hospital records, Tofazzal had died before he was taken there.
Six students from DU admit to being part of the mob beating
