Saikat Chandra Dey. Photo : Collected

By Md Abdus Salam Azad

CHANDPUR, June 4, 2025 (BSS) – In the evening on July 20, 2024, Saikat Chandra Dey, a 43-year-old private service holder, left his rented house in Dhaka’s Shanir Akhra area with a prescription in his hand and a phone.
 
Basically, he left home with the intention of buying medicine for his ailing mother from a local pharmacy, but he got caught up in the clash between the protesters of anti-discrimination student movement and members of law enforcement agencies.
 
According to the eyewitnesses, members of law enforcement agencies were allegedly firing bullets at the protesters when a bullet struck Saikat in the chest, leaving him dead on the spot.
 
Saikat, a native of Upadi village in Matlab South Upazila of the district, had been living with his wife-Swapna Rani Dey- and two children-Dhrubo Chandra Dey (12) and Matrika Rani Dey (8)- in his rented flat in Shanir Akhra.
 
Working as an accountant at Ananda Housing since 2016, he balanced his full-time job with private tuitions in math and English to support his family.
 
His grief-stricken wife Swapna burst into tears when this correspondent approached her for comments about her martyred husband.

“My mother-in-law came to our house from the village in the second week of July because she was ill. My husband visited several hospitals for her treatment. On July 20, around 7.30pm, he went to Shanir Akhra main road to buy medicine for my mother-in-law.
 
When he was returning home with the medicine, a bullet struck him in the chest. He died on the spot when locals took his body to a nearby alley,” Swapna wailed, recalling the tragic incident.
 
She learned about her husband’s death from her friend with whom she had spoken from Saikat’s mobile phone shortly before the incident.
 
As she rushed to the spot, Swapna found her husband lying lifeless. Later, the family consulted neighbors and brought his body home for cremation, as police refused to perform a post-mortem or record a report.
 
Swapna recounted that after Saikat’s death, they were left with only Taka 250. Relatives, Saikat’s employer company, and local people helped them survive for a while, but eventually all support ceased.
 
Their son, Dhrubo, and daughter, Matrika, were studying in grades six and two, respectively, in a school in Shanir Akhra. Unable to continue their education in Dhaka, Swapna moved with her children to her parents’ home in Rangpur in January this year.
 
“My husband doesn't have any property in Chandpur. Their family lives in their maternal grandfather’s home. Therefore, I have to live with my mother in my father's house,” grieving Swapna said.
 
She, however, said the district administration, the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) stood by her with financial support that is helping her survive with her children.

However, the tragedy was that Saikat’s mother, Shikha Rani Dey, also died seven months after his tragic death as she couldn’t endure the pain of losing her son.
 
Raised in a struggling family, Saikat had always been the pillar of support. His father, the late Dulal Chandra Dey, a physically challenged former high school teacher, had earned little, leaving Saikat to take up the responsibility of raising his three siblings.
 
Saikat’s second brother, Sujan Chandra Dey (35), works at a jewelry factory in Dhaka while his youngest brother, Chandan Chandra Dey (32), is an executive in Ananda Housing in the capital. Their only sister, Mousumi Rani Dey (40), is married and lives in Matlab Uttar with her family.
 
Talking to BSS, Saikat’s younger brother, Chandan, tearfully said, “He tutored students while studying himself to support us. Everyone in our village called him ‘Suman Master’.”
 
Apart from his job, Saikat tutored three students in mathematics and English in the evening at Shanir Akhra to supplement the household income. He personally taught his children those subjects, while hiring a teacher for the others.
 
When this correspondent approached Sujan for comments about his martyred brother, he was overwhelmed with grief and struggled to speak.
 
“I talked to my brother on July 8 for the last time when he asked me to stay away from the quota reform movement as I was living in the New Market area near Dhaka University,” Sujan wailed, saying, though Saikat was his elder brother, he was more like a friend to him.
 
He sobbed recalling how Saikat always took care of them, even taking their mother to doctors and nursing her during illness.
 
Talking about his martyred father, Saikat’s son Dhrubo tearfully said, “My father wanted me to be a cricketer. He planned to admit me to BKSP. He wanted my sister to become a doctor. All of our dreams are gone now”.
 
The boy demanded justice for his father’s killing.
 
“We don’t know who killed my father, but we ask the government to investigate and ensure justice,” said Dhrubo.
 
Saikat’s wife, Swapna, also demanded justice for killing her husband.