In relation to the deaths of protesters demanding quota reform, police have brought at least 64 lawsuits. The case statements say that miscreants and terrorists were shot dead arbitrarily, not by police, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), or Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Prothom Alo was able to gather data on 34 police-filed cases. When those situations are analyzed, it is discovered that their claims are nearly identical.
According to the case statements, miscreants or leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) assaulted police with firearms, explosives, or deadly weapons at the command of their high leadership. These crooks carried out the slaying episodes while disguising themselves as quota protestors.
In addition to the police cases, three victims’ relatives also filed individual cases. Deaths from “criminals’ shooting” were also included in those situations.
In two of these cases, Prothom Alo contacted the plaintiffs. They said that when they received the victims’ bodies, their signatures were stolen and that they were unaware of the process for launching a case.
Since July 16th, at least 212 people have lost their lives in various parts of the nation, including Dhaka, as a result of demonstrations and altercations centered on the quota reform campaign.
However, 150 deaths have been reported by the authorities thus far. Some people lost their lives during the fighting on the roof, inside the home, and in the streets.
On July 28, police in Kadamtali opened a complaint over the death of Abdul Ahad, a three-year-old. The plaintiff in this case is Sub-inspector KM Jahan-e-Alam. Ahad was shot while standing on his home’s balcony around 1:30 pm, according to the court statement. After being brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he was pronounced dead.
Ahad was killed, and 7,000–8,000 miscreants have been accused of the crime.
A group of miscreants attacked the Kadamtali police station, vandalized, and set many locations on fire, according to the police’s case statement. They fired police, flung gasoline and homemade explosives, and hurled brickbats. Shotguns, sound grenades, and tear gas shells were employed by the police to scatter the miscreants.
Once the situation was under control, the police learned that the miscreants had shot Ahad without cause or distinction.
The authorities claim that the leaders of Jamaat-Shibir, the BNP, and their affiliated organizations ordered the attack. Among the attackers were the heads of these parties as well.
According to the case statement, police discovered all of these things through locals, CCTV footage, and journalist-obtained recordings.
When Prothom Alo questioned the plaintiff, SI KM Jahan-e-Alam, regarding Ahad’s death, she replied that the investigation will determine Ahad’s killer.
In Jatrabari, 12 instances out of 28 fatalities
On July 16, 17, 19, 20, and 21, protests in Dhaka and other districts resulted in fatalities. Following then, a few patients passed away while receiving care in the hospital. The majority of deaths occurred on July 18, 19, and 20.
It has been discovered that the Dhaka police and families have filed 37 murder cases in all. These incidents include mentions of 67 deaths in all. Of them, five perished from injuries and beatings, and 62 perished from gunfire.
The Jatrabari police station has received the most number of case filings. This police station received twelve cases related to the deaths of twenty-eight people.
On July 18, Mehedi Hasan, a journalist for the internet news portal Dhaka Times, was shot and killed in Jatrabari. On July 27, Md. Hossain Jayed, the sub-inspector of the Jatrabari police station, filed a case on the deaths of seven individuals, including Mehedi, the journalist. In this case, innocent people were accused.
The case statement is essentially the same as the others. Five people were shot to death and two were beaten to death, according to the case. The petitioner, a police SI, claimed to Prothom Alo that the criminals, posing as quota protesters, shot and killed journalist Mehedi and other people. The criminals also killed and injured police officers. Investigations would identify the people responsible for these murders.
Nonetheless, family members of at least two deceased individuals asserted that cops, BGB, and RAB members opened fire during the altercation. Now that the police have filed the case, they are concerned about receiving justice.
On July 19, in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), journalist Mehedi’s brother Jahid Ashik told Prothom Alo that his brother had been shot in the chest while performing his duties in front of the Shanir Akhra fish market.
In response to his brother’s murder, he called for justice.
The previous inspector general of police (IGP), Nur Mohammad, was questioned by a reporter regarding the police statements and the relatives’ allegations.
He pushed on unbiased inquiries into each incidence. “It would make the relatives of the victims’ wounds even more painful if an unbiased investigation and prosecution of the real criminals were not conducted.”
Besides Jatrabari, two cases were filed in each of the police stations of Mohammadpur and Rampura regarding five deaths; three cases were filed at the Bhatara police station regarding six deaths; three cases were filed with the Kadmatali police station regarding three deaths; two cases were filed with the Lalbagh police station regarding two deaths; one case was filed with the Banani police station regarding three deaths; two cases were filed with the Uttara and Mirpur police stations regarding two deaths each; one case was filed with each of the police stations of Dhanmondi and Kafrul over two deaths; and one case each with the police stations of Gulshan, Badda, and Hatirjheel regarding one death each.
Due to the deaths of three victims, three family brought three complaints against the Paltan police station. Kamal Mia, a rickshaw puller, was shot on July 19 in Paltan and passed away at DMCH. The plaintiff in this lawsuit is Kamal Khatun’s wife, Fatema Khatun, according to the material in the case statement.
On Tuesday night, she spoke with reporter over the phone and said that she went to the Paltan police station and DMCH to pick up her husband’s remains. Despite not knowing anything about the matter, she was had to sign numerous documents.
Regarding the murder of businessman Rabbi Alam, who passed away on the night of July 19, another case was filed. On Tuesday night, Md. Selim, the uncle of Rabbi Alam who is the plaintiff in the lawsuit, informed Prothom Alo that he was unaware about the matter. In addition, he signed several documents when he received the body.
According to the statements in both incidents, the miscreants’ bullets killed them.
Officer-in-charge of the Paltan police station Monir Hossain Mollah told Prothom Alo that the cases were filed by the families.
Regarding the death of police inspector Masud Parvez Bhuiyan, a complaint was made to the Khilgaon police station. Merina Akter, his spouse, brought the lawsuit.
She claimed in the case statement that thieves killed her spouse by striking him with various objects.
Gias Uddin, a police nayek, died in the Jatrabari region. On July 24, Gias Uddin’s relative Fazal Pradhan filed a case with the Jatrabari police station.
In the case, the names of seventeen accused parties were mentioned. Nabiullah Nabi, the joint convener of the BNP’s Dhaka city south section, and fourteen other leaders of the BNP and its affiliated organizations are among the accused.
