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Crime pays back

Rashidul Hasan and Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee from Feni
It was a cold afternoon of November2000.
Abul Bashar, a Jubo League leader, was going along the Academy Road in Feni town in a human haulier. As soon as Bashar, also known as Bashir, reached the Bilashi cinema, some unknown assailants stopped the vehicle and FROM PAGE 1
opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.
The trial of his murder was never held. However, people of Feni by and large believe that the murder was carried out on the directives of Ekramul Haque as the duo had been engaged in an escalating feud over establishing supremacy in the area. Ekramul too was a Jubo League leader back then.
Fourteen years later, Ekramul, now chairman of Phulgazi upazila parishad and president of the upazila Awami League, was shot and burnt alive inside his car near the same spot on Tuesday. The grisly murder too appears to be a result of internal strife of the ruling party.
The background of Ekramul does not look bright. He was a contractor and allegedly controlled illegal activities like extortion, tender manipulation and illegal occupying of sand extraction points known as balu
mahals in Feni.
Son of late Nurul Haque, Ekramul came to the limelight for being one of the members of the "steering committee" of Jainal Hazari, a former ruling party lawmaker, who was known as a criminal godfather in Feni during the 1996-2001 tenure of the AL. The “steering committee" was a fearsome name in the town for it used to carry out Jamal's "assignments".
However, when Jainal went into hiding following the defeat of the AL in 2001 elections, Ekramul followed the suit. He had been either on the run or behind bars until 2009.
With the AL assuming power again in 2009, Ekramul surfaced again. He then contested the upazila elections the same year and came out victorious.
He, however, had a new competitor in the area. Local AL leader Nizam Hazari had established his influence in Feni politics. Nizam became the mayor of Feni munici-
pality in 2010.
Ekramul joined hands with Nizam and started working together but not for long.
Both Ekramul and Nizam vied to become the MP from two constituencies of Feni in the January 5 elections. But Nizam went ahead of him and became the lawmaker of Feni-2.
In another dark scheme, Ekramul was elected general secretary of Feni Diabetic Samity last year, violating the constitution of the association. The charter does not allow anyone involved in politics to be the president or the general secretary.
A section of local AL leaders opposed him and locked down the door of the samity office. However, Ekramul broke the lock and started attending office there.
In his political career, Ekram faced at least two dozen lawsuits, including murder cases. He was acquitted in some of those, some were withdrawn and the rest are still under trial.