August 15 death cases in limbo

On the fateful night of August 15, 1975, a group of disgruntled army personnel killed Bangladesh's founding father and most of his family. Twenty-four other people, including Bangabandhu's relatives, were also killed on that night in Dhaka. Rogue army personnel killed Bangabandhu’s nephew and Awami Jubo League's founding chairman Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and his wife Arzu Moni at their Dhanmondi residence. They also attacked Bangabandhu’s brother-in-law and former water resources minister Abdur Rab Serniabat's Minto Road residence. Another mortar attack by the soldiers killed 14 others in Mohammadpur that night. Three cases were filed over these killings in 1996. Of them, two are in limbo while a Dhaka court acquitted the accused of the case filed over Sheikh Moni's murder. On several occasions, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Attorney General Mahbubey Alam have said that they will take steps for disposal of the pending cases, but they are yet to make any move. Mahbubey told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday that he was unaware of the cases' current status. Law Ministry sources said they had nothing to do about the Sheikh Moni case as police had already submitted the final report. Legal experts, however, say the government can revive this case by carrying out further investigations, if it wants to.

Serniabat murder case

A group of rogue army men, led by Maj Shahriar Rashid, Maj Aziz Pasha, Capt Majed and Capt Nurul Huda, stormed Serniabat’s Minto Road residence around 5am on August 15, 1975, according to case documents. They went up to the first floor and broke the door. Serniabat was making a phone call to Bangabandhu's residence at that time. The attackers rounded up the residents in the drawing room on the ground floor where Maj Shahriar and Capt Majed opened fired. Maj Rashid, Maj Aziz and Capt Huda shot the victims again before leaving the scene. Serniabat, his nephew Shaheed Serniabat, daughter Baby Serniabat, son Arif Serniabat, four-year-old grandson Babu Serniabat, domestic helps Potka and Laxmir Ma, and Abdur Naim Khan alias Rintu were killed. Abul Hasnat Abdullah, son of Serniabat, who hid behind a door, escaped unscathed. Hasnat's wife Shahan Ara Begum, his mother Amena Begum, brother Abul Khair Serniabat, sisters Beauty and Rina Serniabat, and domestic helps Rana, Rafiqul Islam, Golam Mahmud and Lalit Das were seriously injured. Shahan Ara filed a case with Ramna police on October 21, 1996 over the killings. Eighteen accused were put on trial. The High Court in November 1999 stayed the case proceedings after a criminal revision was filed by one of the accused against the charge framing order. Public Prosecutor Abdus Sattar Dulal of Dhaka's First Additional Metropolitan Sessions judge's Court told the Dhaka Tribune: “The case is still pending with this court due to the High Court stay order.”

Sheikh Moni killing

Sheikh Moni’s Dhanmondi residence was surrounded by a group of army men around 1:30am on August 15. Eight to ten army personnel, clad in black uniform, went to the first floor and fired shots, the case statement said. Moni’s close aide Mohammad Shahabuddin, who was on the ground floor, went upstairs and saw Moni and his wife Arzu lying on the floor in a critical condition. Moni's parents, younger sister Sheikh Rekha and brother Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim were crying. Sheikh Maruf, Moni's younger brother, turned up there. Arzu asked Selim to save them and their sons – Sheikh Fazle Shams Porosh and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. Shahabuddin, Selim and Maruf took Sheikh Moni and his wife to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced them dead. Shahabuddin filed a case with Dhanmondi police on November 20, 1996, accusing 16 people, including former deputy minister Taheruddin Thakur. The Criminal Investigation Department cleared the accused of charges in its final report on August 22, 2002. Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court accepted the CID report and acquitted the accused on December 30 the same year without notifying the case's plaintiff. Complainant Shahabuddin was neither informed by the investigation officer nor by the court concerned about the fate of the probe. No initiative has since been taken for further investigation. Mohammadpur mortar attack According to the case, Mohammad Ali, a freedom fighter who resided at Sher Shah Suri Road 8, woke up with wounds in his left thigh at about 5:30am and heard sounds of mortar fire. He went to a nearby house on Road 9 and found Rezia Begum, wife of the house owner, Musa, and their daughter Nasima dead. Ali visited two houses – 196 and 197 – on Shahjahan Road and saw bodies of Habibur Rahman, Anwara Begum, another lady by the same name, Moyful Bibi, Sabera Begum, Abdullah, Rafiqul, Safia Khatun, Shahabuddin, Kasheda, Aminuddin and Honufa Bibi – all killed in the mortar firing. Later, Ali claimed he had learned that 14 people were killed in Mohammadpur by mortar shells fired by a group of army men. He filed a case with Mohammadpur police station on November 29, 1996, accusing Syed Farooq Rahman and 10 others. The case's trial started at Dhaka's Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court on November 1, 2006. But so far, only 14 out of 58 prosecution witnesses have testified. The prosecution failed to produce any witness before the court in the last three years. Complainant Mohammad Ali told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday that he was frustrated over the slow progress of the case. “I want justice,” he said. “I would like to see conclusion of the case before I die.”