Bangladesh ICT issues arrest warrant for 26 people in last year’s July protests murder case

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal issued arrest warrants for 26 people, including a former vice-chancellor, over the 2024 police shooting of student Abu Sayed during quota protests. The case includes charges against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina amid claims of political vendetta

Dhaka: The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh on Monday issued arrest warrants for 26 people, including Begum Rokeya University’s former Vice Chancellor Hasibur Rashid, in connection with a murder case during last year’s July protests in the country.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, passed the order after accepting the charges brought against 30 accused in the case of the murder of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, local media reported.

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Reports suggest that the four accused, including former proctor of the university, Shariful Islam, former assistant sub-inspector of police Amir Hossain, police constable Sujan Chandra Roy, and Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Imran Chowdhury, are currently in custody over alleged involvement in the case.

Abu Sayed was the first student killed by police gunfire in Rangpur on July 16, 2024, at Park Mor near Begum Rokeya University amid violent student demonstrations demanding reforms of the quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh.

Sayed’s elder brother, Ramzan Ali, filed the complaint with the ICT’s prosecution wing, pressing charges against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 23 others over his brother’s death.

Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, prosecutor Mizanul Islam stated that the investigation agency of the ICT has found the alleged involvement of 30 individuals in connection with the case.

Local media reported that sub-inspector (SI) Bibhuti Bhushan Roy, then in-charge of the campus police camp, filed an FIR, which stated that Sayed was not a victim of police firing.

“The protesters fired weapons and threw chunks of bricks from different directions, and at one stage, a student was seen falling to the ground,” read the report.

The former SI alleged that over 2,000-3,000 unidentified people, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami activists, were involved in the incident.

Analysts reckon the development is an extension of the political vendetta being pursued by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, as several cases were filed against Hasina, her supporters, and the working officials during her tenure on frivolous grounds immediately after her ouster in August 2024.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August following the violent student uprising was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country.