Dhaka, February 16 – As the number of custodial deaths of Awami League members continues to rise in Bangladesh, another party leader died in custody at the Gaibandha District Jail, local media reported.
The 60-year-old deceased, Shamikul Islam, who served as the Awami League's President of Palashbari Upazila, fell seriously ill and died while being transferred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital on Sunday.
Confirming the incident, Md. Atikur Rahman, head of Gaibandha District Jail, stated that the Awami League leader was first taken to Sadar Hospital and later referred to Rangpur for advanced treatment, but he passed away on the way.
Citing sources at the Gaibandha jail, The Daily Star, Bangladesh's leading newspaper, reported that multiple cases were filed against Shamikul following the ouster of the Awami League-led government on August 5, 2024. He was arrested in Dhaka on December 8 of that year in one of the cases and remained in jail for an extended period. Despite securing bail later, he was reportedly re-arrested in a separate case and sent to prison last year.
The incident has added to the growing number of reported custodial deaths involving Awami League leaders and supporters in Bangladeshi prisons, intensifying allegations of political repression and targeted actions during the tenure of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
Earlier on February 7, former Bangladesh Minister and senior Awami League leader Ramesh Chandra Sen died after reportedly falling ill while in police custody at the Dinajpur District Jail, local media reported, citing official sources.
Sen, who previously served as the Minister of Water Resources and represented the Thakurgaon-1 (Sadar upazila) constituency as a Member of Parliament, was pronounced dead by doctors at the emergency department of Dinajpur Medical College Hospital.
Condemning the growing crackdown on its leaders, the Awami League stated that the death of Sen while in custody at Dinajpur District Jail has exposed another "chilling truth" – that Bangladeshi authorities are using prisons as a "silent weapon" to eliminate political opponents.
"The prison authorities have called it a 'natural death,' but the reality is entirely different. An 83-year-old former minister, detained in a serious case, was provided no advanced medical care. This is not merely a failure of the state. It is a clear case of deliberate neglect," the party stated.
Expressing grave concern, the Awami League further said, "The death of Ramesh Chandra Sen is not an isolated incident. It is a message: inside prisons now, there is no justice, only death waiting. This drama of evading responsibility will not be allowed to continue. This is not a death. This is a crime by the state.”