A case was filed against Awami League President and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 33 others on charge of indiscriminate firing on a rally of Hefazat-e-Islam at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013.
Babul Sarder Chakhari, chairman of Bangladesh People’s Party, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Zaki Al Farabi on Sunday.
The court accepted the statement of the plaintiff and directed Motijheel police station to investigate the complaint and submit a report.
The notable accused in the case are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former minister Rashed Khan Menon, former minister Hasanul Haque Inu, former IGP Benazir Ahmed, Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, the then IGP Hasan Mahabub Khandakar, then Rab chief A.K.M Shahidul Haque, then OC of Motijheel Police Station Omar Faruk.
According to the case statement, Hefazat-e-Islam placed a 13-point demand “protesting the defamation of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)” by some bloggers. On May 5, 2013, due to the government’s failure to address the demands, supporters of Hefazat-e-Islam gathered at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel.
From 11 pm that night to 4 am the following day, the members of law enforcement agencies carried out mass killings of madrasa students and pedestrians placing barricades on the roads and cutting off electricity connection in the area in the direction of Sheikh Hasina, the case statement says. They also used city corporation’s vehicles to hide the bodies at an unknown location, it added.
