Seven Murders of the Narayanganj

In April 2014, seven people disappeared from the Fatullah area of Narayanganj, Bangladesh, and were later found dead. Among the victims was Nazrul Islam, a panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation who was reportedly on good terms with Mayor Dr. Selina Hayat Ivy. Nazrul went missing on 27 April 2014 along with three associates and his driver. His lawyer, Chandan Kumar Sarker, who had been following Nazrul's car, disappeared the same day from the same location along with his own driver. Within a week, the bodies of the victims were found floating in the Shitalakshya River, on whose bank Narayanganj District is situated.

Two criminal cases were filed in connection with the killings. Nazrul's wife, Selina Islam Beauty, filed a case against six people, including Nur Hossain, then vice-president of the Siddhirganj unit of the Awami League and a city councillor. Chandan's son-in-law, Bijoy Kumar Paul, filed a separate case naming Nazmul Haque, a partner in an engineering firm, along with unidentified others. Nazrul's father-in-law, Shahidul Islam, alleged that RAB personnel had abducted and killed Nazrul in exchange for payment from Nur Hossain.

Multiple government, police, and RAB probe committees were formed. Following High Court directives, the Detective Branch of Police, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), RAB, and a government-appointed seven-member committee were all involved in various stages of the inquiry, with the Supreme Court exempting CID from the investigation in November 2014. RAB's own inquiry identified 21 of its members, including three senior RAB-11 officials, as involved: Lt Colonel Tareque Sayeed, Lt Commander Masud Rana, and Major Arif Hossain, along with RAB members Hamidul Haque, Hira Miah, Belal Hossain, Abu Tayab, and Arif Hossain. The three top officials made confessions regarding their involvement and were subsequently forced into retirement from military service. Nur Hossain, described as the prime accused, fled to India after the killings and was arrested in Kolkata on 14 June 2015; India handed him over to Bangladesh on 12 November 2015.

The Detective Branch of Police filed a charge sheet against 35 people on 8 April 2015. A Narayanganj court indicted all 35 individuals on 8 February 2016, and the formal trial began on 29 February 2016. On 16 January 2017, the court delivered its verdict, sentencing 26 people to death—including Nur Hossain and 16 former RAB officials such as Tareque Sayeed, Arif Hossain, and Masud Rana—while nine other associates received varying prison terms. The presiding judge stated that charges of abduction, murder, concealment of bodies, conspiracy, and destruction of evidence had been proved beyond doubt.

The 2017 trial judgment did not end appellate review. As of April 2026, final appeals remained pending before Bangladesh's Appellate Division, so the death sentences were not final dispositions.