Staff Reporter :
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina now faces a staggering 49 legal cases, including 40 murder charges, as legal battles mount against the ousted leader following her departure from office amid widespread student protests.
The latest case, filed on Friday, adds to the growing list of accusations against Hasina and her former cabinet members.
The most recent charge involves the murder of Abdul Ahad Shaikat, a student from Dhaka Commerce College, who was allegedly killed during the anti-discrimination student movement.
The case was filed by Shaikat’s father, Nazrul Islam, at the Savar Model Police Station.
According to the complaint, Shaikat was brutally beaten and shot on Mukti Road in Savar on August 5, shortly after participating in a protest against systemic inequities. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Officer-in-Charge Atiqur Rahman confirmed the filing of the case, which implicates not only Hasina but also 126 others, including prominent figures such as former Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former State Minister for Information Mohammad A Arafat, and former State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman.
The case alleges that these officials ordered members of the Chhatra League, Jubo League, and Awami League to carry out the attack that resulted in Shaikat’s death.
This case is one of several recently filed against Hasina and her associates.
On Thursday, five additional murder cases were registered, bringing the total number of cases against the former Prime Minister to 49.
These include charges of crimes against humanity, genocide, abduction, and an attack on a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) procession.
The accusations span multiple regions, with cases filed in Dhaka, Narsingdi, and Bogura.
In one instance, a street hawker was killed during protests in Ashulia on August 4, leading to a murder charge against Hasina and 46 others.
In another case, Hasina and 32 others were accused of the death of a 12th-grade student in Dhaka’s Airport area on August 5.
Additional charges include the killing of a 23-year-old in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, on July 19, and the death of a businessman during the anti-discrimination student movement in Narsingdi on the same day.
In Bogura, Hasina, along with her sister Sheikh Rehana, son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and 76 others, were sued for the abduction and murder of a BNP leader in Shibganj upazila in 2018.
Sheikh Hasina, 76, was forced to resign on August 5 following unprecedented student-led protests against her government over a controversial quota system in public sector jobs.
The protests, which erupted in early July, quickly escalated into widespread anti-government demonstrations, leading to her government’s downfall.
After her resignation, Hasina fled to India, and an interim government led by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was established to restore order.
The violent aftermath of her departure has been severe, with over 230 people killed in incidents of violence across the country, pushing the death toll from the protests to more than 600.