Shuvo Sheel. Photo : Collected

SAVAR, May 29, 2025 (BSS) – “Bhai, I have been shot. I think I won’t survive. Please forgive me,” Shuvo Sheel told this to his elder brother, Sohag Sheel, over phone soon after he was shot in the Savar Bus Stand area on July 20 during the 2024 July Uprising.

Shuvo, a 25-year-old garment worker, had sustained the bullet injury at a time when the anti-discrimination student movement swept the streets across the country aimed at ending the nearly 16-year-long fascism.  

He, however, succumbed to his injury on July 23 while undergoing treatment at Enam Medical College Hospital here.

Shuvo was the younger son of Bikash Sheel (55), a local barber, and Sadhana Sheel (45). Hailing from Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila, the family has been living in the Jirani Bazar area under Ashulia Police Station in Savar for over 20 years. His elder brother, Sohag Sheel (27), works at a local apparel factory.

Talking to BSS, Sohag vividly remembered his phone conversation with his younger brother Shuvo on the tragic day. “He told me they had shot him and that he wouldn’t survive. He asked for forgiveness,” Sohag said in an emotion-choked voice.

He recalled that when he asked Shuvo to go to the hospital, Shuvo replied that he was not in a condition to go to the hospital. “My condition is very bad,” Shuvo had told his brother and hung up the phone.

Later, the locals took him to the Enam Medical College Hospital where he breathed his last on July 23 while undergoing treatment.

“The pain of losing a brother is unbearable. The void can never be filled,” Sohag tearfully said, adding, Shuvo was a very kind-hearted person.

“He thought a lot about our family. Our father was a barber by profession. Shuvo took a job in a garment factory to support the family,” Sohag said.

His mother, Sadhana, told BSS that Shuvo had called in her phone at 5:55 PM on the day he was shot. His brother Sohag answered the call, only to hear his little brother’s final, heart-wrenching words: “Bhai, they shot me. I’ve been hit. I don’t think I’ll survive.”

Soon after the incident, Shuvo’s maternal uncle Basudev Bishwas at first rushed to the hospital and then his brother and parents reached there.

Basudev said Shuvo had gone to visit their home in Dhamrai as his factory was closed. Despite warnings of not to go outside due to ongoing unrest, Basudev said Shuvo came out of their home around 3pm on that day and went to the Savar Bus Stand area.

“Shuvo tried to hide inside a shop when the shooting began around 5.30pm, but he was shot from close range,” Basudev said, referring to the eye witnesses. The bullet pierced his abdomen and exited through his back, he added.

Shuvo’s mother Sadhana Sheel, however, accused the doctors of not providing proper treatment on time. “My brother reached the hospital at 7pm and begged the doctors to start treatment, but they kept delaying,” she tearfully said.

“When I reached the hospital by 7:45pm, they still hadn’t started treatment,” Shuvo’s grief-stricken mother said.

Sadhana said Shuvo pleaded his mother to give him a sip of water, but doctors forbade it. At that time Shuvo apologized to his mother. Eventually, under pressure from family members, doctors began his treatment after 10pm, confirming severe internal damage.

Over the next four days, Shuvo fought for his life. But he could not win the struggle. He breathed his last on July 23.

Shuvo’s father Bikash said he reached the hospital around 10 am as he got the news late. “When I reached there, I saw my son lying in the emergency department of the hospital. Then he started apologizing to me,” Bikash recalled.

“Baba, I think I could not survive anymore, please forgive me,” Bikash wailed, recalling the last words of his son.

The family, however, now demands justice for Shuvo’s killing. “We want justice for killing our son,” Shuvo’s mother demanded.