Staff Reporter :
LGRD Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain on Thursday testifies to two people involved in the killings in front of him in Chankharpul area in the capital on August 5, last year in police firing.
“Two people were killed right before me. Later I got to learn that six protesters were gunned down by police using Chinese rifles and shotguns on that day in Chankharpul area.
Around 1:30 pm on the same day, we learned that Sheikh Hasina had resigned and fled the country,” he said.
He came up with the statement while testifying at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 as a prosecution witness in crimes against humanity case lodged over the killings of six innocent people in Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024.
In his testimony, he accused ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Khamal, Habibur Rahman, Awami League leaders, commanding authority in police for the killing.
He described how intelligence personnel from various agencies tried to persuade them to withdraw the movement when he was a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement during July Uprising.
While being detained at the office of the Detective Branch office, they were repeatedly told that they had been brought there under the orders of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, and that failure to comply would result in their killing.
“However, the DB spared our lives,” he stressed.
As a Asif prosecution witness-19, Asif submitted his deposition on Thursday but he failed to concluded his deposition.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder at the end of proceedings adjourned the hearing till October 16.
The first tribunal on July 14 framed charges against eight accused, including former commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Habibur Rahman, in a crimes against humanity case filed over the killings of six innocent people in the city’s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024.
Of the eight, four accused have been arrested and are now facing trial in person. They are- former officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station Md Arshad Hossain, constables Md Sujon Miah, Md Imaj Hossain Emon and Md Nasirul Islam. The other four accused are former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioners Sudip Kumar Chakrabarti, former additional deputy commissioner Shah Alam Md Akhterul Islam and former assistant commissioner Mohammad Imrul
