The International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday framed charges against five individuals, including former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Habibur Rahman, over crimes against humanity linked to the Rampura student shooting that left Amir Hossain critically injured and two others dead.
The tribunal scheduled October 16 for the prosecution to deliver its opening statement.
A three-member bench of ICT-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, issued the order. Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim represented the prosecution, while lawyer Sarwar Jahan appeared for former assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Chanchal Chandra Sarkar, who pleaded not guilty.
The tribunal rejected Chanchal’s bail plea and ordered the trial to proceed against all five accused.
Earlier, on August 7, Prosecutor Faruk Ahmed formally submitted the charges, accompanied by Prosecutor Saimum Reza Talukder. On August 10, the tribunal took formal cognizance of the case and directed that the arrested former ASI Chanchal be produced in court. Arrest warrants were also issued against the four-absconding accused.
According to reports, on July 19, 2024, Amir Hossain was returning to his aunt’s residence in Dhaka after work at a hotel in Rampura. Spotting police and Border Guard vehicles on the Banasree-Meradia road, he climbed onto the roof of an under-construction four-storey building in an attempt to escape. A police officer fired six rounds at him, causing him to fall from the third floor. Passersby rescued him and he was first taken to a hospital in Banasree before being transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for prolonged treatment.
On the same day, Nadim and Maya Islam were killed by police gunfire in Rampura’s Banasree area. Six-year-old Basit Khan Musa, Maya Islam’s grandson, was also shot and, after receiving treatment in Singapore, remains unable to speak.
On January 26, former ASI Chanchal Sarkar, identified as the officer who shot Amir Hossain, was arrested in Dighinala, Khagrachhari, by a team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police led by International Crimes Tribunal Prosecutor Tanvir Hasan Joha. Investigations were conducted against five individuals, including former ADC Rashed of DMP Motijheel division. On July 31, the investigation report was submitted to the chief prosecutor’s office.