Missed, deeply

“He was my best friend. I used to share all my problems and happiness with him. But since the last 11 months, I have no one to talk to.”

Laments a son while reminiscing about his father.

“Not a day goes by I don't think about him…,” Iftekhar Ul Islam, an eleventh-grader, was unable to finish the sentence.

His father, Irfanul Islam, an accounts and admin official of the capital's Drik Gallery, was found dead in the bushes beside the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road on the evening of April 2 last year.

He went missing from Dhanmondi area the same day around 11:45am after withdrawing Tk 3.08 lakh from a private bank.

Eleven months into the investigation, law enforcers are yet to find any clue to the murder.

Hopeless, Iftekhar now seeks the prime minister's intervention. He said he wrote a letter to the premier seeking help in this regard. He sent the letter via e-mail and also by post to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Wednesday.

Sunday was the 18th wedding anniversary of Irfanul Islam and his wife Johora Akhter.

“Every year on this day, my father used to bring flowers for my mother...,” wrote Iftekhar on his Facebook.

While talking to this correspondent over the phone Johora could not stop crying. “Irfan was an honest man. He was simple and cordial,” mourned Johora.

Iftekhar said, “I feel more wretched when I see how my mother has been suffering.”

Meanwhile, the death of Irfanul has left the family in a fearful state.

“Every day I go out with my son in the morning when he leaves for college, pass my time outside and return home in the evening,” said his wife. This has been going on for the last one year, she added.

Irfanul's brother Imdadul Islam filed a murder case with Kalabagan Police Station on April 4.

But, expressing disappointment, the family said the investigation officer only contacts them whenever the media report on the issue.

“They keep on telling us the same story,” said Imdadul, “That the investigation is underway.”

NO HEADWAY IN PROBE IN 11 MONTHS

Though 11 months have elapsed since the murder of Irfanul Islam, there is no visible progress in the investigation into the murder case.

“We have checked the CCTV footages, scrutinised Irfanul mobile phone's call list, talked with several people, but found no clue”, Mohammad Yousuf, a sub-inspector of CID and also the investigation officer of the case, told The Daily Star last month.

Asked, if Irfanul had any previous enmity, Yousuf said, “After speaking with his family, friends and colleagues we can say that he was a gentleman. We did not find any plot of enmity behind the killing.”

“We also tracked the movements of muggers in Dhanmondi-8 and surrounding area and took two suspects in remand. But we didn't get any connection.”

“We are still trying our best, and working along with Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI),” he added.

When The Daily Star tried to contact him recently, a PBI official said Yousuf is currently outside the country.

Contacted, Irfanul's brother, Imdadul said, “Two investigation officers have already been changed, but it did not make any change to the investigation.”

Earlier the case was being investigated by the police and detective branch (DB) before it was handed over to CID.