Habibur, 2 others to walk gallows in Chankharpul crimes against humanity case
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 today convicted and sentenced three people, including former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman, in a case over crimes against humanity committed in the capital’s Chankharpul area, where six people were killed on August 5, 2024.
The two other convicts sentenced to death are- former DMP Joint Commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty and former Additional Deputy Commissioner Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam.
The tribunal also ordered confiscation of the properties of the three condemned convicts. All three, along with another convict, are still at large.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, pronounced the judgment at 12:35 p.m. in a crowded courtroom
“These three had superior status over their subordinates and are liable for superior command responsibility. They are found guilty and hereby awarded a single sentence of death,” the judgment said.
The tribunal sentenced former assistant commissioner of DMP’s Ramna Zone Mohammad Imrul to six years’ imprisonment. Imrul is yet to be arrested and was tried in absentia.
The ICT-1 also sentenced former inspector Md Arshad Hossain to four years’ imprisonment, and former constables Md Sujon, Imaj Hossain Emon and Nasirul Islam to three years’ imprisonment each.
The tribunal said Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam compelled lower-ranking policemen to take up arms on the scene and open fire on protesters, adding that he even handed over a Chinese rifle to constable Sujon after taking it from another constable who had refused to fire.
As subordinates, the lower-ranking policemen had little choice but to follow the orders of their superiors, the tribunal observed.
Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam expressed dissatisfaction over the judgment and said the prosecution would file an appeal.
“Much obliged. Though it is customary to say ‘much obliged’ after any judgment of the court, we intend to file an appeal,” he told the tribunal after the verdict.
The tribunal was earlier scheduled to pronounce the judgment on January 20, but later rescheduled it to January 26 as the verdict could not be readied within the stipulated time.
The prosecution submitted the formal charge against all eight accused on May 25, 2025, marking the first formal charge filed at the ICT in cases arising from the July–August mass uprising. The tribunal indicted the eight on July 14.
The six victims—Shahriar Khan Anas, Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Zunayed, Md Yakub, Md Rakib Hawlader, Md Ismamul Haque and Manik Miah—were killed in Chankharpul on August 5, 2024.
The tribunal’s investigation agency submitted a 90-page probe report on April 20, 2025.
It is the second judgment delivered by the reconstituted tribunal.