Fresh murder case filed against Hasina over fish trader’s death

The case, filed late on Sunday, was the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old leader after her resignation

Dhaka: A new murder case has been filed against Bangladesh’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 62 others, including ex-Ministers of her cabinet, over the death of a fish trader during the quota reform protests in the country, a media report said on Monday.

The case, filed late on Sunday, was the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old leader after her resignation and fleeing to India on August 5 following a massive protest by students against a quota system in government jobs.

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It was filed by Shahnaz Begum, the wife of Md Milon, who was shot dead on July 21 while returning home from a local fish market, the ‘Dhaka Tribune’ newspaper reported. As many as 62 people, including Hasina, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former lawmaker Shamim Osman, and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, were named as accused in the case.

According to the report, leaders and activists of the Hasina-led Awami League and its affiliated organisations armed with firearms and sticks created obstacles to traffic on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to disrupt the student movement.

It alleged that Hasina, Quader and Asaduzzaman ordered the shooting and attack on protesting students and the public. Milon, who was returning home from a local fish market at that time, was shot in the chest and collapsed on the road. He was taken to Pro-Active Medical College and Hospital in the area, where he was declared dead, the report said.

This raises the number of cases filed against Hasina after her ouster to more than a dozen. Over 230 people were killed in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students first started in mid-July.

An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed as its Chief Adviser.