Nur received Tk65 lakh through hundi to back students' movement

Nurul Haque Nur, president of Gono Odhikar Parishad and former Vice-President of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, has been closely managing the recent quota reform movement. Working from behind the scenes, he provided substantial support to the movement's coordinators and incited the protests. Based on this information, police detained Nur.

When questioned about the movement, Nur provided this information to the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Several senior DB officers said that Nur had prior experience with the 2018 quota reform movement, during which he successfully mobilised general students. He later went on to form a political party.

This time, he maintained contact with the coordinators behind the scenes during the quota reform movement. Not only that, but he also brought in a substantial amount of money from several Middle Eastern countries to ensure the success of the movement.

He distributed a portion of this money, approximately Tk65 lakh, to leaders of the Gono Odhikar Parishad in three regions of Dhaka: Badda, Mirpur, and Lalbagh. This was to provide various supplies to the protesters for the quota reform movement.

Information on Nur's case has been obtained from a police officer familiar with the matter.

On 18 July, in connection with the arson and vandalism at Setu Bhaban in the capital, a court ordered Nurul Haque Nur to be sent to jail after a five-day remand. Nur's family alleged in court that he was subjected to inhumane torture in police custody.

In the case of the violence, the court granted another five-day remand for Nurul Haque Nur when police presented him before the court on Sunday. Nurul Haque Nur was arrested by the DB police from a house in the Badda area of the capital during the quota reform movement.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (DB) Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid told a national daily on Sunday, "We have received information that Nur conducted financial transactions at different places during the quota reform movement. We will bring those involved in this matter under the law."

An officer from DMP, who is connected to Nur's case, said that a large amount of money received from Middle East countries was kept by Nur, with a significant portion amounting to Tk65 lakh distributed to different locations. This money was used to supply water, biryani, and shoes to the protestors. Additionally, people were hired from different parts of the capital city with this money to engage in violence with law enforcers.

Relevant sources said that Nur was involved in this quota movement from the very beginning. He held meetings every night with the quota coordinators at a house in Dhaka’s Rampura. However, Nur did not communicate with Nahid and Sarjis Alam, two of the key coordinators of the quota movement, through his mobile phone. However, he spoke with other coordinators over the phone.

Sources said he managed the coordinators from behind the scenes to ensure the quota movement remained solely a student-led initiative.

During interrogation, Nur said that he did not contact Nahid by phone to evade the law enforcers' attention. He also revealed that programmes of the quota reform movement were organised in consultation with him. Nur also claimed that their plan to attract attention by not organising programmes like political parties but rather in a different manner was successful.

Sources revealed that Nur initially advised the coordinators of the quota reform movement not to involve any political party. He assured them that when the movement reached the brink of success, his party, along with other opposition parties, would be included. He took this responsibility upon himself. As part of this, Nur held a meeting at the Uttara residence of a senior opposition leader on the night of 13 July. A former MP from Lakshmipur district, who had been arrested in recent violence, was also present at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the authorities concerned have started field-level investigations into the arson and vandalism cases related to metro rail. In their preliminary investigation, they found evidence of collusion by a vested interest group in the metro rail violence. If necessary, the investigators will also question the group.