Forty-five years have passed but justice still remains elusive in three cases filed over the killing of 24 people on the same night Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was murdered along with his family members on August 15, 1975.
The deceased include Abdur Rab Serniabat, then water resources minister, and Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, founder chairman of the Awami Jubo League.
Rogue army personnel killed Bangabandhu’s nephew Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and his wife Arzu Moni at their Dhanmondi residence. Bangabandhu’s brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabat came under attack at his Minto Road residence.
A mortar attack by rogue soldiers killed 14 others in Mohammadpur.
Three cases were filed over these killings in 1996. Among them, two are in limbo while a Dhaka court acquitted the accused of the case filed over Sheikh Moni's murder without informing the plaintiffs.
When contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam expressed his frustration over the cases lingering on.
“None of the officials of my office keep me updated on these cases,” he said.
“The cases are very sensitive and a matter of national concern and so they should be completed to ensure justice for the victims,” the chief state counsel told Dhaka Tribune.
He also said: “Initiatives will be taken to resolve the cases, although most of the accused of these cases have either been convicted or executed in the Bangabandhu killing case.”
Serniabat murder case
A group of rogue army men, led by Major Shahriar Rashid, Major Aziz Pasha, Captain Majed and Captain Nurul Huda, stormed Serniabat’s Minto Road residence around 5am on August 15, 1975, according to the case documents.
They went up to the first floor and broke down the door. Serniabat was making a phone call to Bangabandhu's residence at the time. The attackers rounded up the residents in the drawing room on the ground floor, where Major Shahriar and Captain Majed opened fire.
Major Rashid, Major Aziz and Captain 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 help Potka and Laxmir Ma, and Abdur Naim Khan alias Rintu were killed.
Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Serniabat’s son, hid behind a door and escaped unscathed.
Hasnat's wife Shahan Ara Begum, his mother Amena Begum, brother Abul Khair Serniabat, sisters Beauty and Rina Serniabat, and domestic help 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.
Sheikh Moni killing
Sheikh Moni’s Dhanmondi residence was surrounded by a group of army men around 1:30 am on August 15, 1975. Eight to ten army personnel, clad in black uniforms, went up 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, then arrived at the scene. 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 Taheruddin Thakur, former minister of state for information.
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 plaintiff in the case.
Neither the investigation officer nor the court concerned informed the plaintiff about the investigation. Later, no initiative was taken for further investigation into the case.
The government can revive this case and ensure justice for the victims by conducting further investigations, if they want, according to legal experts.
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 house owner Musa, and their daughter Nasima dead.
Ali visited two houses – 196 and 197 – on Shahjahan Road and saw the bodies of Habibur Rahman, Anwara Begum, another woman by the same name, Moyful Bibi, Sabera Begum, Abdullah, Rafiqul, Safia Khatun, Shahabuddin, Kasheda, Aminuddin and Honufa Bibi. All of them had been killed in the mortar fire.
Later, Ali claimed he had learned that 14 people in Mohammadpur were killed by the 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 of murder.
The trial commenced in Dhaka's Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court on November 1, 2006. Only 18 prosecution witnesses, out of 58, have so far testified in the case over the last 14 years.
Prosecution lawyers have failed to produce any witness before the court since CID official Munshi Atiq testified as the 18th witness on January 22, 2019. The next hearing date of the case is September 21 this year.
Expressing frustration over the slow pace of the case, plaintiff Mohammad Ali said he wanted justice to be done.
Public Prosecutor Mahfuzur Rahman Khan told Dhaka Tribune: “The case is still pending due to the non-appearance of witnesses. But we hope that the trial will be completed by March of next year.”
