DHAKA: Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others, including two senior ministers of her cabinet and the sacked police chief, would face trial on murder charges, court officials said on Tuesday.
The murder case filed against 76-year-old Hasina is the first so far against her since she resigned and fled to India on August 5. She and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month’s violent clashes that led to the fall of her government.
“In line with a case filed by a resident of (Dhaka’s) Mohammadpur area, Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury has asked police to register it as an FIR,” a court official said.
He said six others who were named in the case are: Awami League general secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and sacked inspector general of police (IGP) Abdullah Al Mamun, Dhaka’s police commissioner Habibur Rahman, Additional IGP Harun-or-Rashid and additional joint commissioner Biplab Kumar.
While Hasina fled to India, the two ministers are believed to have secretly left the country hours before her resignation on August 5 while the whereabouts of the police officers remained unknown to the media.
According to court officials, the magistrate asked Mohammadpur police station to record the case. A police official preferring anonymity said it was unclear which agency would be tasked to investigate the case.
The case against Hasina and six others was lodged on charges of killing a grocery shop owner in the Mohammadpur area in police firing on July 19 during a street march in support of the students’ movement for reforms in a controversial quota system for government jobs.
Amir Hamza Shatil, who filed the murder case, has received a death threat. Shortly after filing the case, a phone call was made to Shatil from France on Tuesday.
Showing the mobile number to the reporters, he said: “I got a call from a number in France and asked if I know the consequences of filing a case against Sheikh Hasina.”