Salauddin, Matin Sarker, Ashraf Sarker and Mobarok Hossain
The murder of Narsingdi mayor Lokman Hossain was not designed by a single enemy. It was an act of connivance of several people who wanted to see Lokman dead over long-standing disputes.
Close aides of the popular mayor say Lokman not just had serious disputes with Posts and Telecommunications Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju and his brother Salauddin Ahmed, but also with former mayor Abdul Matin Sarkar and his brother Ashraf Sarkar.
Two of Lokman's close friends--Mobarok Hossain Moba and Manjur--had also turned enemies centering local issues.
Besides, a number of top local criminals were against Lokman as he acted against their interests, family members and several close friends of Lokman told The Daily Star on Tuesday.
They say Lokman made enemies by his good deeds and also by bad deeds.
Although Lokman had been very popular as a mayor, his performance earning him gold medals from the local government ministry twice as the best mayor, he had a past tainted and smeared with accusation of a killing.
He is the prime accused in the murder of Manik, former Narsingdi municipal commissioner, who was killed on January 2, 2001.
However, Lokman's friends allege that the Matin-Ashraf group had previously made 10 to 15 attempts to kill Lokman.
This time, they joined hands with other enemies of Lokman--Mobarok, Manjur, Nurul and Tarek--all are accused in the Lokman murder case.
Talking to this correspondent over the last few days, locals, including some journalists, said the killers took the advantage of the recent conflict between Lokman and the telecom minister and his brother.
Those who had been trying for years to kill Lokman had this time persuaded the minister's brother to teach him a "good lesson," friends and family say.
Thus, the object of teaching a lesson turned into a planned murder.
According to the case filed by Lokman's brother Kamruzzaman, the minister's brother Salauddin, Matin Sarkar, Mobarok, Nurul, Tarek and five others plotted Lokman's assassination.
The first information report also states that Matin's brother Ashraf, Manik's son Mamun and seven to eight other unknown people had directly taken part in killing mission in the district Awami League office Sadar Road on November 1.
Several top criminals, who were also against Lokman, joined hands in the killing, said a number of highly placed sources.
CONFLICT WITH MATIN-ASHRAF
The conflict between Lokman and Matin, a former Narsingdi mayor, and his brother Ashraf first surfaced in 1998 when Lokman stood against Matin in the mayoral race.
The conflict between Lokman and Matin, a former Narsingdi mayor, and his brother Ashraf first surfaced in 1998 when Lokman stood against Matin in the mayoral race.
This issue had also given birth to a clash between Lokman and the telecom minister, who had favoured Matin in the election.
Back then, Lokman used to maintain a link with the underworld that ran drug business in Narsingdi. But in 1998, Lokman declared a "war" against the drug trade, which used to be partly controlled by Ashraf.
“I still remember that one day in 1998, we along with Lokman started demolishing several drug dens. A number of Ashraf's men jumped into a pond nearby and two of our followers shot at them just to scare them,” says a friend of Lokman.
The conflict deepened after the Narsingdi municipality, of which Lokman was the mayor, acquired six bighs of land that Matin and Ashraf had taken lease from the government.
As mayor, Lokman had planned to set up a water treatment plant on the land with funds from the Asian Development Bank.
In the 1990s, Matin and Ashraf used to dominate Narsingdi politics, a top police officer of Sadar Police Station said, adding: "They were considered godfathers of Narsingdi.”
The two brothers used to control many businesses and local contracts. They were also involved in extortion and drug peddling.
But their "empire" lost its dominance after Lokman came into the scene in 1998. Lokman, a young student leader, defeated Matin in the 2004 mayoral race.
CONFLICT WITH MANIK'S FAMILY
Lokman was accused of killing Manik.
Lokman was accused of killing Manik.
To avenge the killing, Manik's son Mamun had joined hands with other enemies of Lokman, one of Lokman's friends said.
Lokman had been implicated as the main accused in the killing. He had also been behind bars for nearly two years in a number of cases. After the BNP government came to power in 2001, Lokman was shown arrested in the Manik murder case.
His name was, however, dropped from the case after Awami League came to power in 2009.
ENMITY WITH MOBAROK AND RAJU'S APS
The clash between two old friends--Mobarok and Lokman--started over manipulating a contract of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) ministry in 2009.
The clash between two old friends--Mobarok and Lokman--started over manipulating a contract of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) ministry in 2009.
Minister Raju's assistant personal secretary (APS) Masudur Rahman Murad is a childhood friend Mobarok.
Sources said the minister allegedly assigned Mobarok and Murad to control all tenders of the local LGRD office. But Lokman resisted this, sparking a fresh conflict Mobarak.
Mobarak had other bitterness against Lokman. He lost to Lokman in the 2004 mayoral race.
CONFLICT WITH TAREK
A very rich man, Tarek has vast property in the district and in the capital. His father has hundreds of acres of land in Dhaka and Narsingdi.
A very rich man, Tarek has vast property in the district and in the capital. His father has hundreds of acres of land in Dhaka and Narsingdi.
After taking office in 2004, Lokman had made many decisions that had gone against Tarek's interest.
On many occasions, Lokman foiled Tarek's move to sale a number of disputed pieces of land, locals said.
Besides, Lokman supported Fardin, a close relative of Tarek, to ensure that Fardin gets the share of the property of Tarek's father.
For all these reasons, locals say, Tarek joined the others, including the minister's brother, to get rid of Lokman.
“A rich man, Tarek agreed to finance to hire the killers”, confidential sources told The Daily Star.
CONFLICT WITH RAJU-SALAUDDIN
In the 1998 mayoral race, Lokman being the general secretary of Narsingdi Chhatra League raised Tk 8 lakh for the mayoral race campaign of AL leader Shamsuzzaman.
In the 1998 mayoral race, Lokman being the general secretary of Narsingdi Chhatra League raised Tk 8 lakh for the mayoral race campaign of AL leader Shamsuzzaman.
Raju was then an AL MP and chief of the parliamentary committee on the commerce ministry. He was supporting Matin.
Lokman's aides claim that Shamsuzzaman had won the polls but Raju influenced the administration to change the results and declare Matin the winner.
“Raju with a vehicle full of BDR men [now BGB] went to the deputy commissioner's office and asked all to vacate the office. After some time, the DC declared Matin the winner in the mayor polls,” a local claiming to have witnessed the incident told The Daily Star last week.
Lokman and his followers declared Raju persona non grata in the area for his interference in the polls. Lokman also called a hartal in protest.
After the AL took office in 2009, a fresh conflict between Raju and Lokman surfaced over the control of Narsingdi politics and tender business.
In recent months, Raju and his brother Salahuddin tried in vain to bring the local Chhatra League, which was controlled by Lokman and his brother, under their command.
On October 22, the district Chhatra League brought out a procession brandishing brooms and shoes against the minister.
This came days after Lokman's declaration to run for the post of general secretary of the district AL against Salahuddin.
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