July 19 police firing: Hasina sued over death of shop owner

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others have been sued over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Sayed in police firing in the capital’s Mohammadpur area during quota reform protests on July 19.

The other accused are Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former DB (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) chief Harun Or Rashid, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, and former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker.

SM Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of Mohammadpur, yesterday filed the murder case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury.

This is the first case lodged against Hasina after she resigned and went to India amid an uprising on August 5.

After a hearing, the magistrate recorded the complainant’s statement and directed the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station to register the complaint as a first information report (FIR).

In the case, several unnamed top police officials and other government officials have also been accused, Mamun Mia, a lawyer for the complainant, told The Daily Star.

The complainant was not the relative of the victim, he filed the case voluntarily, he added.

In his complaint, Shatil mentioned that Sayed was killed around 4:00pm on July 19 when police were firing indiscriminately on the protesters, following the accused’s directives.

Former home minister Asaduzzaman ordered police to open fire on the demonstrators, read the complaint.

The victim’s family members, who are very poor, live in Boda upazila of Panchagarh. They do not have the ability to file the case, he mentioned in the complaint.

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of AL and its associated bodies yesterday took out a procession in Gopalganj town to protest the filing of the murder case against AL President Hasina and other leaders.

Several thousand AL men joined the procession that started from the district AL office in Bankpara area. After parading different roads in the town, the programme ended in Chowrangi area.