Extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh: When will they stop?

By Abdullah Alif

"Aren't you involved?" said an unidentified voice.

"No", replied another voice.

A few seconds later, a gunshot rang out followed by the groaning of a man.

As it continued for a few seconds, Ekramul Haque’s wife and two daughters were screaming and begging for his life.

“My husband has not done anything … Why are you killing him?” the Teknaf municipality councillor’s wife Ayesha Begum kept screaming repeating these words.

These were heard in an unverified audio clip reportedly detailing the last conversation between Ekram and his family, moments before he was killed on May 26, 2018 in what the law enforcers described as a ‘gunfight’.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said that he was killed in a shootout between their members and drug smugglers at the bordering town of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.

Soon after the killing, the government said that an inquiry led by a judicial magistrate would be opened.

“We'll look into the matter," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said then before adding accountability and punishment would follow for anyone found guilty.