A case has been filed against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others on murder charges in the Mohammadpur area under an order by Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
The case was filed over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Said in police firing by Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of Mohammadpur.
The other accused are Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former DB chief Harunor Rashid, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman and former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker.
Sheikh Hasina has been made the number one accused in the case.
According to the case statement, Sheikh Hasina directed a harsh crackdown on the student movement.
Obaidul Quader, who has been made the second accused, has ordered the media to suppress the agitation at various times.
Former IGP Abdullah Al-Mamun (accused no 3), former DB chief Harunor Rashid (accused no 4), former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman (accused no 6) and former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker ( accused no 7) have ordered the subordinate policemen under their command to supress the movement of the students.
Apart from this, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal (accused no 5) ordered the police to fire at the students' procession.
It has also been mentioned in the case that other unidentified police officers and policemen carried out the killings on the orders of various ministers of the government.
The statement of the case also mentioned that the fair and reasonable demand of the students was that the quota reform movement was going on peacefully. The unidentified policemen opened fire on the orders of the accused without any provocation.
This is the first case filed against Sheikh Hasina after she resigned and left Bangladesh for India on August 5.
After scrutinizing the documents submitted before the court, the judge asked the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station to register the complaint as a First Information Report (FIR).
In his complaint, Shatil mentioned that Abu Said was killed at 4pm on July 19 when police were shooting indiscriminately at students and common people during the quota reform protests.