Surviving for two years with the pain of acid burns

Captain of RAB-7, Chittagong, Lt. Col. MA Yusuf said, Mohammad Zakaria was Hafez in Quran. He wanted to be trained in technical education along with studies. For this purpose, he is a distant relative. Rafiqer started repairing fridges at a shop called The Metro Refrigeration, located opposite the Agrabad Commerce College. The shop was run on a partnership basis by Rafiq and his friend Shahjahan (elder brother of accused Kamal). Zakaria taught Arabic to Rafiq's children. Besides, he taught the Holy Quran and religious education to many children in the area. Accused Md. Kamal also worked in that shop. Kamal did not like the fact that everyone liked and respected Zakaria. When Rafiq thought of selling the shop at one point, Hafez Zakaria expressed his interest in buying the shop. Because of this, Kamal used to argue and quarrel with Zakaria.

The RAB captain said that on September 16, 1998, Zakaria and Kamal opened the shop and worked for a while in the absence of the owner. At one point there was an argument and quarrel between the two. At one stage of the quarrel, Kamal left the shop. The shop was closed the next day due to the strike. On that day, Kamal asks Zakaria to come to the shop as he has an urgent matter. When Zakaria came to the shop at 9 in the morning, Kamal brought acid in a mug and said to Zakaria, 'I have brought tea for you, eat'. But when Zakaria did not want to eat, Kamal got angry and threw a mug full of acid on Zakaria's face. Zakaria's eyes-face-chest-hands were burnt. Zakaria screamed in agony. As Zakaria did not die after throwing acid, Kamal set him on fire with a diashlai and escaped with a few kicks to ensure his death.

MA Yusuf also said that the people of the neighborhood came and saw Zakaria, who was seriously injured, almost dead, and informed the Doublemooring police station. Doublemooring police arrived at the spot and took Zakaria dead to the police station. A constable on duty at the police station suddenly noticed that Zakaria was breathing. Later, Doublemooring Police took him to Pahartali Eye Hospital with serious injuries. Zakaria regained consciousness after providing treatment there for four consecutive days. But after seeing the severity of acid burns on the eyes and body, he was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. There, Hafez Zakaria first saw his own horrified image in the mirror and fainted and was in a coma for 30 days. Later, as his condition did not improve, he was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. One of Zakaria's eyes was completely destroyed by the acid. After a long period of treatment, he went to Saudi Arabia after recovering well.

In this incident, his father Mohammad Yunus Mia filed a case at Doublemooring police station on September 18, 1998, the day after the incident. Since the incident, the Thana police have conducted several raids to arrest the fugitive accused Kamal, but the cunning Kamal could not be arrested. After a long investigation, charges were filed in court on September 15, 2004. On April 24, Chittagong Divisional Special Judge Court accused Md. Kamal was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Tk 1 lakh, in default of which he was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment

RAB-7 continued its intelligence operations to arrest the absconding accused, who has a life sentence in Meher Station Road area under Shahrasthi police station of Chandpur district and managed to arrest him by carrying out a raid around 3:15 on September 30. In the initial interrogation, he admitted the responsibility of the incident.

After the arrest, Kamal said that after being on the run for some time, he went to Faridganj in Chandpur district. Later he got involved in various crimes there. There, from 1998 to 2001, he worked as a studio employee on photography, wedding and home packaging. From 2001 to 2003, he secretly farmed in his own and other areas. He was in jail from 2003 to 2007 in a robbery case filed at Ramganj police station in Lakshmipur district. After his release in 2007, he started the vegetable business in Jatrabari, Dhaka. In 2010-2011, he was again imprisoned in a case of robbery preparation. After being released in 2011-2013, he was doing farming under disguise in different areas. In 2013, he left the area and came to Shahrasthi, bought land and started sand business.

By:Mahmudul Farabi