Dhaka, September 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Another Awami League leader has died while in custody in Bangladesh, with the party alleging that he was subjected to torture and denied proper medical treatment.
Nur Islam, 55, general secretary of the Awami League unit in Mirsarai Municipality, died on Wednesday afternoon after complaining of chest pain while lodged at Chattogram Central Jail.
According to local media reports, Nur Islam was initially taken to the prison hospital by jail guards. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Md Iqbal Hossain, senior jail superintendent of Chattogram Central Jail, confirmed the death to The Daily Star. He said Nur Islam had recently been sent to jail after being arrested in a case filed under Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Rokeya Akhter, the deceased’s wife, said Mirsarai police had arrested her husband in connection with a political case before he was sent to prison following a court order.
She said he was granted bail in that case on August 31 but was arrested again at the prison gate the following day in connection with another case and taken back to jail. According to her, the repeated arrests had a severe impact on his mental health.
“My husband never harmed anyone. He was already physically ill. He died due to mental torture and torture after being imprisoned in a false case. My two young children became orphans after losing their father,” she was quoted as saying.
The Awami League described Nur Islam’s death as an indictment of what it called the ongoing “mass killing” of people associated with the party. It said he had not been convicted of any crime but had remained in detention for more than a month.
The party alleged that police detained him because of his political affiliation and that he was kept at Chattogram jail for more than 30 days despite his health condition. It further alleged that he was denied proper medical treatment and subjected to torture before his death.
In a statement, the Awami League also accused authorities of using the Anti-Terrorism Act to detain and allegedly mistreat political opponents, while claiming that convicted terrorists and extremists were being released on bail.
The party further alleged that political activists were being subjected to custodial deaths with impunity and criticised what it described as silence from the United Nations and international human rights organisations.
The allegations made by the Awami League and the deceased’s family have not been independently established.
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