The Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court has accepted a complaint filed against 75 individuals, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader and Anisul Huq, over the shooting death of a hairdresser during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, ordering Ashulia police station to record the case within three days.
The complaint was filed on Tuesday by the victim’s younger brother, Anarul Islam.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Imrul Hasan, confirmed the matter.
The deceased, Zahidul Islam Sagar, 28, was the son of Md Rafiqul Islam from the Durugpur area in Rangpur.
According to the complaint, Sagar worked at a hair salon and joined the student protests on August 5.
After 2pm, local MP Saiful Islam and leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations allegedly beat Sagar and then Union Parishad Chairman Shamim Ahmed Bhuiyan shot him in the head with a firearm, the complaint documents say.
Sagar was declared dead by doctors after being rushed to the hospital.
His body was later buried in his hometown of Rangpur.
The complaint names Sheikh Hasina, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former law minister Anisul Huq, former state minister for information Mohammad A Arafat, JaSaD President Hasanul Haq Inu, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon, former MP from Dhaka-19 Md Saiful Islam, ATN News’s Savar correspondent Zahid Hasan Shakil, and many other central and local Awami League leaders and activists.
Additionally, 100-200 unnamed individuals have been included as accused.
In response to being named in the complaint, journalist Zahid Hasan Shakil said: “I covered the student protest from the ground throughout its duration. I find it incomprehensible how I am being implicated in this case. I am not involved in this murder. This has left me stunned and saddened. I feel like a victim of a vendetta."
