Waves of cases being filed against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her party leaders and other cronies, see five more pile up on Monday, over the violence and killings done during the recent movement led by Baishamya Birodhi Chhatra Andolan which resulted in her ouster.
Two of these fresh cases were filed on the charge of the killings of Liton Hasan Lalu alias Hasan in Mirpur and Tarik Hossain in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar areas of Dhaka. Among others, former Road Transport and Bridges minister Obaidul Quader and former Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were accused as well.
Liton Hasan’s brother Milon filed a one against 148 with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan.
The other prominent accused in the case included former members of parliament Mainul Hossain Nikhil, Ilias Mollah, Kamal Ahmed Mazumder, former inspector general of police (IGP) Abdullah Al Mamun, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former DIG Harun-or-Rashid, and former DMP additional joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker.
According to the case documents, victim Hasan joined a peaceful procession in the Mirpur area on August 4 as part of the anti-discrimination students’ movement. At around 2pm, activists of the then-ruling Awami League party started indiscriminately firing at the procession, injuring Hasan. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at Agargaon Neuroscience Hospital.
Meanwhile, victim Tarik Hossain’s mother Firdushi Khatun filed the other case against 13 including Hasina, Quader and Asaduzzaman Khan, Hasan Mahmud and Mohammad Ali Arafat.
Tarik was shot by unidentified miscreants in front of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station on August 5 and succumbed to his injuries on August 9 at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.
Another murder case has been filed against the Awami League supremo Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan, Obaidul Quader, and Shamim Osman over the killing of Milon Mia, a fish trader shot dead during the protests in Narayanganj.
Mosammat Shahnaz Begum, wife of deceased Milon and a resident of the Siddhirganj area of Narayanganj, filed the case at Siddhirganj Police Station on Sunday night. Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Bakar Siddique confirmed the matter to Dainik Amader Shomoy on Monday.
According to case documents, on July 21, Milon Mia was commuting to buy fish at the Shimrail intersection of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
At that time, on the orders of the accuseds number 1, 2 and 3, the leaders and activists of Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League gathered in the area and opened fire on a crowd of students.
Milon Mia was shot in the chest and dropped to the ground. His nephews Shakib and Manik, with the help of people nearby, rescued and rushed him to the local Kanak hospital. Later, when his condition deteriorated, he was taken to the Pro Active Medical College Hospital in the Signboard area. Milan died at around 12:30pm on July 21 while undergoing treatment there.
The 62 accused also included– Shamim Osman's son Ayon Osman, nephew Ajmere Osman, Narayanganj City Corporation Councilor Matiur Rahman Moti Shahjalal Badal, Mahanagar Jubo League president Shahadat Hossain Sajan, Awami League leader Zakirul Alam Helal, Mahanagar Awami League President Advocate Khokon Saha, Siddhirganj Thana Awami League President Mujibur Rahman, and General Secretary Yasin Mia.
In Chattogram, another case has been filed against 108 individuals, including ousted Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Hasan Mahmud, and 100-150 unidentified persons, in connection with the killing of Wasim Akram, a leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and a student of Chittagong College.
Wasim was shot dead during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement in Chattogram. Other accused in the case include AL leader AJM Nasir Uddin, former Education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, Chattogram City Corporation mayor Mohammad Rezaul Karim, and former lawmaker Mohiuddin Bachchu.
In the other case, filed by Afsana Akhtar, widow of Abdullah Kabir, BNP’s Mirpur Ward-11 unit vice-president the complaint alleges that Kabir was shot dead on August 4 while assisting student protesters.
Crimes against humanity
Meanwhile, a complaint was filed on Monday with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) against 27 people, including ousted Hasina, former ministers Obaidul Quader, Rashed Khan Menon and Hasanul Huq Inu for committing alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.
The other prominent accused in the complaints are- Anwar Hossain Monju, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Anisul Huq, Hasan Mahmud, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mohammad Ali Arafat, Kamal Ahmed Mazumder and Abdullah Al Mamun.
Md Abul Hasan, father of Shahriar Hasan Alvi, who was gunned down during the movement, filed the complaint against 27 people including Hasina and her cronies and 500 unnamed others with the investigation agency of the ICT.
The plaintiff filed cuttings of different newspapers and other documents with his complaint. He brought allegation of genocide and crimes against humanity under sections 3(2), 4(1) (2) of The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973.
