No arrests three days after Sharmin Group MD, son sued over senior merchandiser’s death

No arrests have been made three days after a case was filed against Sharmin Group’s managing director and his son for allegedly abetting the suicide of a senior merchandiser who died after falling from the roof of the company’s eight-storey building in Narsinghpur, Ashulia, on 14 October.

Contacted on Sunday, Ashulia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Tariqul Islam said the victim’s elder brother, Iskandar Ali, had filed the case alleging abetment of suicide. The police were investigating the incident and would take legal action accordingly.

The victim’s family suspects that he was murdered.

Mohammad Jamal Uddin, 39, was the son of the late Sekendar Ali and a resident of the Burulia area near DUET in Gazipur Sadar. He worked as a senior merchandiser in Division 3 of Sharmin Group.

On 15 October, Iskandar Ali filed a case against Sharmin Group Managing Director Ismail Hossain, naming him as the prime accused. The case also names Hossain’s son, Sharaf Hossain, a director of the company, and several unidentified individuals.

The factory authorities claimed shortly after the incident that Jamal Uddin had died by suicide. Iskandar Ali said that the family initially wanted to file a murder case, but the police were reluctant to accept the complaint and initially insisted on registering an unnatural death case.

“Later, after we staged a sit-in in front of the police station at night and news of the incident was published in the media, the police registered the case of abetment,” he said.

Iskandar Ali further alleged that Jamal Uddin had been severely mistreated at his workplace on the morning of the incident and forced to perform sit-ups while holding his ears in front of others. He said the humiliation and mistreatment had pushed Jamal Uddin into deep distress.

According to the case statement, Jamal Uddin entered the office at 8am on Wednesday. Around an hour and a half later, at 9:30am, his family was informed that he had died after falling from the roof.

The case statement alleges that the accused’s repeated mistreatment, mental abuse and public humiliation had compelled Jamal Uddin to take his own life.

Jamal Uddin’s wife, Sabikun Nahar, said her husband had told her the previous day that there was trouble at the factory and that he feared he might be framed.

“This was planned. They killed him. I want justice,” she said.

Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, Inspector (Operations) at Ashulia Police Station earlier told the media that Jamal’s body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka for an autopsy and that legal proceedings were ongoing.

Police stated that the exact circumstances of the death remain under investigation, with the post-mortem report expected to establish the cause of death.