Killing of Ekramul Haque

Killing of Ekramul Haque refers to the extrajudicial killing of Ekramul Haque, councillor of Teknaf Municipality Ward three, by a unit of Rapid Action Battalion. That resulted in Teknaf Municipality three times in a row as a candidate of Awami League. Haque was a former President of Teknaf unit of Jubo League, the youth wing of Awami League, for 13 years. Bangladesh government was carrying a crackdown on the narcotics trade and the death of more than a 100 suspects in shoot-outs with law enforcement agencies. Since 2018 more than 200 individuals were killed in extrajudicial shootings by law enforcement agencies in Teknaf alone.

On 27 May 2018, Ekramul Haque was killed in a gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion led by Squadron Leader Mohammad Rezaul Haque. Major Md Ruhul Amin, Company Commander of Rapid Action Battalion-7, said there was a gunfight and then they found his body. They also recovered 10,000 pieces of Ya ba and two guns. Ranjit Kumar Barua, Officer in Charge of Tekhnaf Police Station, told the Dhaka Tribune that Haque was a listed as a drug dealer by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Haque's brother, Ehsanul Haque Bahadur, said that his brother was picked by intelligence agents, who told him that they wanted to discuss a real estate deal. Squadron Leader Nazmus Sakib was the head of the Tekhnaf Unit of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence was also involved in the shooting.

Lieutenant Colonel Miftah Uddin Ahmed who was Commanding officer of Rapid Action Battalion-7 called Hoque a "godfather of Ya ba". Major Amin said Haque was listed as a top drug dealer with the Department of Narcotics Control but the local official of Department of Narcotics Control denied knowing of any cases filed by the department against Haque. Claims of Haque being a drug dealer were denied by his wife and Jabed Iqbal Chowdhury, President of Tekhnaf unit of Awami League. Provided by Wikipedia