News Flash
By Barun Kumar Dash
DHAKA, May 23, 2025 (BSS)– Dulal Mahmud, born in a poverty-stricken family in a remote Shariatpur village, was gunned down by police on his 38th birthday while buying medicine for his ailing mother.
On the evening of July 18, 2024 Dulal Mahmud (38), who was a senior manager of Standard Chartered Bank, was shot in front of his home in Azimpur around 9pm, during the anti-discrimination student movement that ousted Sheikh Hasina bringing an end to 16 years of dictatorship.
He succumbed to his injuries the next morning at 6:20am at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
He was laid to eternal rest the same day in his hometown at Charkhaguitia Chowkidar Kandi village in Zajira Upazila of Shariatpur, said Dulal’s wife Farhana Rahman, a schoolteacher, who struggles to explain to their children why their father will never walk through the door again.
Dulal was the fourth among six brothers and one sister, born to Siddiq Khalasi and Julekha Bibi.
Describing the incident to BSS, Farhana said, “Dulal returned home from work at 4pm that day. It was his birthday. After having snacks with the children, he said he would step out to get medicine for his mother. Before leaving, he gave her insulin for her diabetes. I warned him not to go outside due to the unrest in the colony, but he insisted, saying he would be back soon—he also needed to pick up an urgent file from a nearby shop.”
“I went to the balcony with the kids to see what was happening outside. Without telling me, Dulal left. It was pitch dark, and gunshots echoed everywhere. Tear gas made our eyes burn. Minutes later (at 9:05 PM), Dulal called, saying, ‘I’ve been shot.’ I screamed and rushed downstairs. He was lying on the street, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Neighbors helped me to tie my scarf around his waist in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding,” she said.
Dulal was taken first to Labaid Hospital, but the staffs there refused to provide treatment. “They said it was a police case and turned us away,” Farhana recalled, tears streaming down her face. “Precious time was wasted. Maybe if they had treated him immediately, he would still be alive.”
They finally reached Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the emergency surgery was delayed by nearly seven hours. Dulal had a rare blood type—O negative—and it took time to arrange donors. During surgery, he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was declared dead at 6:20 am on July 19, less than ten hours after he left home.
Dulal Mahmud was born on July 18, 1984, in Charkhaguitia Chowkidarkandi village of Borkandi Union under Zajira Upazila in Shariatpur district. In 2001, he passed his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) from Purba Naodoba Public High School. Later, he completed his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) from Munshiganj.
Dulal completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Economics from Dhaka College. He joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2013 and married Farhana in 2016. They lived in Azimpur with their two young children—seven-year-old Faraaz and three-year-old Arisha—and Dulal’s elderly parents.
Eyewitnesses told Farhana that after Dulal went downstairs, clashes between police and protesters erupted. He took shelter near Building No. 23, but when police ordered him to open the gate, he explained he didn’t have the key. An officer then shot him multiple times in the back.
“Why did this happen to our happy family?" Farhana wept. "Who will secure my children’s future? How will we survive on my meager income?"
Now Farhana is left to raise two children on her modest salary as a teacher. “My income barely covers rent. I don’t know how I’ll manage school fees or daily expenses,” she said. “My daughter keeps asking when her father will return. My son wakes up screaming at night. They’re traumatized.”
“He was not a political person,” said Aziz Ahmed, a longtime neighbor. “He did not even like gatherings. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The family also faced difficulties even after his death. Initially, Dhaka Medical College listed his cause of death as cardiac arrest. It was only after repeated protests from his relatives that the hospital corrected the certificate to mention that he had died from gunshot wounds.
Dulal’s brother-in-law, Khondakar Salam Mahmud, said, “Dulal used to respect me like an elder brother. His children should have been playing on his back, but now they are fatherless.”
“On that day, protests were taking place all over Dhaka. After hearing the news of Dulal’s death, no relatives could reach his house. Later, risking our lives, we finally managed to go to Dhaka Medical early in the morning. Shortly afterward, the operation began. When anesthesia was administered, he suffered a heart attack and died.”
“The doctors initially recorded the cause of death as a heart attack. We had to go through a lot of trouble because of this. Eventually, after intense arguments, we compelled them to change the death certificate. Finally, they recorded ‘death due to gunshot,” he added.
Demanding an investigation and justice for the perpetrators, Dulal’s mother, Julekha Bibi said, “I couldn’t even give my son two taka during his childhood. He studied by working at people’s shops. Now he finally got a job. But they killed my innocent son. They emptied my heart and orphaned my grandchildren. I want justice for my son’s murder.”
Farhana said, “My husband was our family’s guardian. He used to manage everything -- taking our son to school, caring for our daughter. Now, my daughter points at the sky and says, ‘Look, Ammu, Abbu is a star now.’ Their trauma remains.”
