Charges against Limon Hossain, in a case lodged by elite force RAB after allegedly maiming him, have not been withdrawn yet, even though 12 months have passed since a Home Ministry order to that effect was sent.
The hearing was deferred for the eighth time yesterday until August 18 since the chief judicial magistrate of Jhalakathi had been transferred in August last year. Moreover, the acting CJM, Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Arifuzzaman, has no jurisdiction to hear such appeals, said M Alam Khan Kalam, additional public prosecutor of Jhalakathi.
Limon was shot in his leg allegedly by some members of Rapid Action Battalion who had gone to Jamaddarhat village in Rajapur upazila in a drive to arrest members of local Mizan-Morshed gang on March 23, 2011. RAB the same day filed two cases against the teenager and seven others of the notorious gang – one under the Arms Act and another for obstructing government duty, making attempts to murder and injuring RAB personnel. Charges in the cases were submitted on April 24 and July 1 of 2012.
On July 9 last year, the Home Ministry ordered a withdrawal of the charges, only against Limon, in both the cases. After a hearing, the judge of Special Tribunal 2 accepted the appeal of the prosecution on July 30 and ordered the dropping of the charges against Limon in the arms case.
On the other hand, Limon’s mother Henoara Begum lodged a no-objection petition against the police report submitted in her case. It did not state involvement of RAB men in maiming her son. After the petition had been rejected by a Jhalakathi court, she filed another petition to review the order. Hearing on the revision petition was deferred for the eighth time on April 28 until today.
