Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday expressed optimism that former Sonagazi OC Moazzem Hossain will be arrested soon. “There is no lack of effort to arrest him from the government’s end,” he told reporters during a briefing on contemporary issues at his ministry.
Ex-Sonagazi OC Moazzem is currently ‘absconding’ with an arrest warrant on his head in connection to the murder of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi. Journalists asked Quader if the government has failed to arrest the former OC. “It’s a bit hard to arrest someone who has fled. But they’re trying their best to find him. I’ve spoken to the home minister; the home ministry is very serious on the issue,” Quader said.
The minister denied any political influence preventing the arrest of Moazzem.
“The government has a firm stand on the issue and the prime minister is very serious about it too. President of the Sonagazi wing of the Awami League has been already jailed on the case. The government has showed no signs of negligence or weakness,” he said. Moazzam, the then OC in Sogazi Police Station called Nusrat Jahan Rafi to the police station and recorded her statement after she filed a complaint of sexual assault against her madrasa principal in March.
The video of Nusrat’s statement went viral on social media after the perpetrators set Nusrat on fire. The girl died later in hospital. On Apr 15, Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman filed a case at the Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal under the Digital Security Act against OC Moazzam for spreading the video. Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal issued an arrest warrant against Moazzam on May 27.
