Details

Dr. Sajib Sarker

Doctor
Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College & Hospital, Tongi

Date of Death : 18th July, 2024

When the situation surrounding the quota reform movement became heated, the government declared the closure of all educational institutions in the country on July 16. On July 18, Dr. Sajib Sarkar, a physician from Narsingdi, set out for Dhaka to bring his younger brother, a madrasa student, home. During his journey, his cousin, Anikur Rahman Anik, received a text from him saying, "The road conditions are bad. Please pray that I can return safely." An hour later, Anik received a call from an unknown voice on Sajib's phone. The person informed him, "Dr. Sajib's body is at Uttara Modern Hospital; come quickly and take it away, the police are causing trouble."

Anik said that he initially couldn't believe the news. "I am also a doctor, and I know many people at that hospital. I called them to inquire, and after a while, they confirmed the tragic news. Dr. Sajib had been shot and died." He then informed the family.

Sajib Sarkar’s home was in the Jailkhana area of Narsingdi Sadar. He graduated with an MBBS from the Tayyareunnesa Memorial Medical College in Gazipur in 2020. He was a lecturer at Brahmanbaria Medical College. Two and a half years ago, he got married and was the eldest of three siblings. His father, Halim Sarkar, is a government employee who is set to retire next year, and his mother, Jharna Begum, is a housewife.

Anik said that Sajib's younger brother, Abdullah, was studying at the Ashraful Ulum Madrasa in Uttara's Sector 3. On July 18, clashes between the police and the protesters were happening in various places, and since there was not much vehicle movement, Sajib decided to take an auto-rickshaw to pick up his brother. As he was traveling by rickshaw towards Uttara, he got caught in the middle of the clashes near Azimpur around 4:30 p.m.

According to doctors, Anik said, "Dr. Sajib was first kicked in the stomach. Unable to withstand the pain, he sat down. In this condition, a gunshot was fired at his chest from a distance of about one foot. The bullet hit his heart and exited under the right scapula (shoulder blade). Dr. Sajib died within a minute of being shot."

Due to the internet shutdown, many people only learned of Dr. Sajib’s death later. They expressed their condolences on Facebook by posting his pictures. One of them, Ryan Mohammad Mahi, wrote, "We had a relationship like brothers. My heart is breaking just thinking about it. I can't believe he's no longer with us."

Ikhlasur Nessa, an official at Tayyareunnesa Memorial Medical College and Hospital, confirmed that their doctors reported Dr. Sajib's death due to gunshot wounds sustained during the protests. He was a student of the 2011-12 batch at Tayyareunnesa Memorial Medical College.