‘Buried with the bullet still in his chest’

Tajul Islam was fasting for Ashura on 18 July. He had informed his family that he would return home with Iftar in the evening.

“But my father never made it back. During a clash, a bullet came from somewhere and pierced my father’s chest in front of Amir Complex in Uttara’s Azampur,” said Tajul’s only son, Redowan Ahmed Siam.

“Without conducting an autopsy, my father was buried the next day in our home village of Gamarua in Cumilla, with the bullet still in his chest.”

Tajul Islam was from Gamarua village in Cumilla’s Barua upazila and lived in Ulukhola area of the capital’s Purbachal with his wife, two daughters, and son, Siam. He made a living by renting out a microbus.

Siam, who is fifteen, is learning tailoring to support the family.

“On the day of the incident, we advised my father not to go out because of reports of shootings. He informed us at noon that he was inside a mosque and did not allow the driver to take the car out,” Siam said.

“He said he would come home with Iftar in the evening. But during the clash, when he stepped out on the street to assess the situation, he was shot. We received the news over the phone and rushed to the hospital, where we found his bullet-riddled body.

“I was overwhelmed by the cries and screams of many injured people at the hospital. I had never seen so much blood in my life,” Siam further said.

A week has passed, but Tajul’s bereaved family remains grief-stricken.

Siam added, “My father did nothing wrong. He was not involved in the movement. Why was he shot? How will we manage our household expenses now? We have no savings. My mother has fallen ill from the grief of my father’s death.”

Tajul’s younger brother, Rafiqul Islam, “Why should an innocent person be shot dead on the street? My brother wanted to come home, so he stepped out to check the situation, and that is when a bullet hit his chest.”