Amid concerns about the dubious nature of many cases filed regarding the killing of protesters during the July-August uprising—and the risks this poses to the chances of justice—there are numerous instances where the killings occurred in the capital, yet most of the accused are residents of another districts and upazilas.
Given the country’s situation during those tumultuous days, there is little chance that the individuals listed as accused in these cases could have been present at the crime scenes.
A rickshaw puller named Md Shahin was shot dead in front of the Jatrabari police station at midday on August 5.
He lived in a rented house in Vidyut Gali, Chandankotha, under the Jatrabari police station. His ancestral home is Sahabuddin Bari in the Daulatkhan Upazila of Bhola District.
Shahin’s wife, Sapna, and his father, Abdul Majed, spoke to the Dhaka Tribune at Shahin’s ancestral home on Sunday afternoon.
Sapna said that after her husband was shot dead by the police, she went to file a case on September 7 against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Awami League General Secretary and former Road Transport and Bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid, and the policeman who shot Shahin.
The lawyer typed the description on a computer and obtained their signatures.
Later, they discovered that the lawyer had filed the case in the names of many individuals without their knowledge.
The Dhaka Tribune obtained the papers of the First Information Report (FIR). The accused list even includes a person who was outside the country.
The 18th name on the list is Hasibul Alam. Haseeb Alam (Hasibul Alam as per the case documents) is identified as CEO of AVR Bangladesh. He is the ex-husband of the daughter of former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. Haseeb is a member of the Finance and Planning Sub-committee of the Awami League Central Committee. Haseeb is the nephew of a deceased friend of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasibul was in Canada from July 25.
The Dhaka Tribune obtained a copy of his passport, which showed a date stamp indicating he departed from Dhaka on July 24 and arrived in Canada on July 25.
It’s worth noting that the accused’s address listed in the FIR is in Banani, though he is originally from Patuakhali, while the incident took place in Jatrabari, and the victim was from Bhola.
Learning about these discrepancies, Shahin’s wife became upset, saying that she does not want any innocent people to be accused in this murder case. Abdul Majed echoed her sentiments.
Sapna mentioned that she would go to Dhaka to name only four individuals in the case.
It appears that the case has been filed against 1,500-2,000 members of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations.
Sapna does not even know the lawyer’s name but only has his phone number.
She shared that she has a 4-year-old daughter and a 7-month-old son. There is nothing left in her house.
Since her husband’s death, she received a donation of Tk2 lakh from Jamaat-e-Islami, with no assistance from the government.
When the Dhaka Tribune contacted the lawyer’s number provided by Shahin’s family, the individual confirmed he was a journalist and an apprentice lawyer.
He avoided questions regarding the case and refused to disclose his name, saying: “I did not file any case like this.”
MD Mohsin Hossain, Inspector of Operations at Jatrabari police station, said: “If an accused person is outside the country when the crime is committed, his name will automatically be removed from the chargesheet.”
