Investigation took five years. How long to start the trial?

After the arson attack at the lone hostel of MC College, different units of police investigated and reinvestigated the case for almost five years. But none of them could specify who might be behind the torching.

Finally, the court handed the case over to a magistrate to run a judicial investigation. After five months, the one-person committee filed the investigation report late last year, implicating 29 student leaders and activists -- 10 from Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Shwechchhasebak League (SL) and Jubo League (JL) and 19 from Islami Chhatra Shibir. Accordingly, police also filed a charge sheet against the 29 accused. But the case is yet to go to trial.

On the evening of July 8, 2012, a clash broke out between BCL and Shibir activists. In the middle of the clash, a fire was seen engulfing three blocks of the hostel. The blaze left 42 rooms gutted and 70 others partially burnt. The one-storey tin-roof hostel has 252 rooms in six blocks and houses more than 1,000 students.

Five days after the arson, on July 13, then hostel supervisor Bashir Ahmed filed an arson case with Shahporan Police Station, accusing a group of unnamed miscreants. Later, police filed two more cases -- for the arson and the clash.

Initially, the police station conducted an investigation but found no one behind the arson and their inquiries remained inconclusive. The court then assigned the Criminal Investigation Department. On October 31, 2013, CID filed a report citing that three Shibir activists were involved in the torching. However, the court rejected it, and ordered reinvestigation. 

Later, on August 9, 2015, CID submitted a revised investigation report, which was also turned down by the court as it did not add any new information or any other names as accused. The court then gave the task to the Police Bureau of Investigation, but PBI too failed to find new details and the case apparently hit a snag. The PBI investigators could not turn in a report up until May 2017.

Eventually, the court settled on a judicial investigation and assigned Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Umme Sharaban Tahura on May 31 last year.

She filed the probe report on November 15 last year, accusing the 29 activists. After hearing the case next day, the court ordered arrest of all 29.

The main accused were Debangshu Das Mithu, general secretary of Sylhet city unit of Shwechchhasebak League and then president of BCL Sylhet Government College unit; Pankaj Purkayastha, former president of Sylhet district unit of BCL; Jahangir Alam, former organising secretary of the same unit; and Abu Sarkar, former president of Sramik League.

Among the accused, 10 BCL, JL and SL leaders and activists, including the above mentioned four, got bail after surrendering on January 15 this year. The rest 19 Shibir activists remained absconding.

Talking to The Daily Star, Mahfuzur Rahman, additional public prosecutor of the Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, said police filed the charge sheet against the 29 men, but the trial was getting delayed due to the fugitives.

He, however, said the case can go to trial in their absence if the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM's) court orders confiscation of the fugitive's property and publication of a newspaper circular asking them to surrender.

Meanwhile, the college authorities reopened the hostel in July 2016 after repairs.