8 accused in Ashulia arson case before tribunal
Eight accused have been presented before the tribunal in a case of crimes against humanity in the case of killing seven people, including the burning of six bodies in Ashulia during the July-August movement. They were brought to the court in a prison van from jail this Thursday (February 5) morning. A three-member judicial panel led by Tribunal-2 Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury will announce the verdict in the case.
The arrested are former Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime and Ops) of Dhaka district Md. Abdullahil Kafi, former Additional Superintendent of Police (Savar Circle) Md. Shahidul Islam, then DB Inspector Arafat Hossain, SI Malek, SI Arafat Uddin, ASI Kamrul Hasan, SI Sheikh Abjalul Haque and Constable Mukul.
The eight absconding accused in the case are former MP from Dhaka-19 constituency Muhammad Saiful Islam, former DIG of Dhaka Range Syed Nurul Islam, former Superintendent of Police Md. Asaduzzaman Ripon, then OC of Ashulia Police Station AFM Syed Roni, former Police Inspector (Investigation) Md. Masudur Rahman, former Police Inspector (Operations) Nirmal Kumar Das, former ASI Bishwajit Saha and local Awami League leader Roni Bhuiyan.
The state has called a total of 53 witnesses in this case. The testimony of Shaheed As Sabur’s brother Rezwanul Islam and Shaheed Sajjad Hossain Sajal’s father Md. Khalilur Rahman gave their statements as the first witnesses. The testimony of 24 people, including Investigation Officer Jane Alam Khan, was recorded in 22 working days. After that, the accused Arafat Hossain gave his own defense testimony. The state presented its arguments on January 14. The state and the accused completed their arguments and rebuttals on January 20. On that day, the tribunal adjourned the case for verdict (CAV).
This is the third verdict in the crimes against humanity case in the reconstituted tribunal. On February 1, the judicial panel led by Tribunal-2 Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury set the date for the verdict today. The martyrs in this incident are Sajjad Hossain Sajal, As Sabur, Tanzil Mahmud Sujoy, Bayojid Bostami, Abul Hossain, Omar Faruk and Mohammad Shahabul Islam.
On August 21 last year, Tribunal-2 framed charges against the accused and ordered the trial to begin. At that time, seven of the eight accused present claimed their innocence. However, SI Sheikh Abzalul Haque confessed to the crime and testified as a government witness. The court took cognizance of the formal complaint filed by the state on July 2 of the same year. The state has attached 313 pages of other information, 168 pages of documentary evidence and two pen drives to the complaint. Meanwhile, several layers of security have been increased in the tribunal and Supreme Court area surrounding the verdict. The army has been deployed along with the police-RAB and BGB. Members of intelligence agencies are also on alert.
