Rampura killing: Complaint filed at ICT over cop shooting
Staff Reporter :
The prosecution of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has formally brought charges against former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman and four other law enforcement officials in connection with the shooting of a youth during last year’s mass uprising in Dhaka’s Rampura area.
The charge sheet, submitted on Wednesday to the tribunal’s registrar, accuses the former senior police officer and his colleagues of crimes against humanity for their alleged role in the attempted extrajudicial killing of 18-year-old Amir Hossain.
Others named in the case include Md Rashedul Islam, former Additional Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Khilgaon Zone; Moshuir Rahman, former officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station; and Chanchal Chandra Sarker, then assistant sub-inspector of the same station.
According to the investigation report, filed earlier on 31 July, the incident occurred on 19 July last year during a wave of anti-government protests.
Amir, a hotel worker from Aftabnagar, was returning home from work in the afternoon when he found himself near a protest unfolding around Meradia Bazar in Rampura.
As members of the police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) advanced on demonstrators from both directions, the teenager panicked and fled into a nearby under-construction building.
Climbing toward the rooftop in search of safety, Amir was pursued by police personnel. At a critical moment while clinging to an iron rod on an upper floor he was shot by ASI Chanchal Chandra Sarker, according to case documents.
Amir was later rescued in a severely injured state and received treatment at a hospital.
The case marks a rare move by the tribunal to pursue charges of crimes against humanity against high-ranking police officials in connection with contemporary political unrest.
The prosecution stated that the shooting constituted a deliberate use of lethal force against an unarmed civilian, amounting to an attempted extrajudicial killing.
The tribunal is expected to set a date for the hearing on the charges in the coming weeks.