Saif
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Hasina is Modi's kept and as long as Modi is alive he will not hand Hasina over to Bangladesh for a trial.
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Bangladesh Defense
Saif
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AL govt sought to hide true extent of massacre
They all had families, desperately searching for them amid a nationwide curfew and internet shutdown at the height of the July uprising. Yet, they were buried as "unclaimed" bodies within one to six days after being shot dead, before their loved ones could find them. Seven months after the July
The disappeared of the July Uprising: Part 2
AL govt sought to hide true extent of massacre
The ‘Wall of the Dead” at Anjuman Mufidul Islam. Among these 114 buried in unmarked graves in Rayerbazar in July-August 2024 are many victims of the July massacre. Photo: Collected
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.
They all had families, desperately searching for them amid a nationwide curfew and internet shutdown at the height of the July uprising. Yet, they were buried as "unclaimed" bodies within one to six days after being shot dead, before their loved ones could find them. Seven months after the July killings, these families do not know where their kin rest.
An investigation by The Daily Star indicates that the hasty burials of the victims were part of a systematic effort by the fallen Awami League government to conceal the true extent of the massacre.
In some cases, medical records were tampered with and standard protocols for handling unclaimed bodies were bypassed. In other cases, the police quickly disposed of the bodies even though hospital morgues had the capacity to keep them longer, according to documents and morgue sources.
For example, Dhaka Medical College Hospital has two morgues with a combined capacity to hold around 100 bodies.
Before July 15, when killings of the protesters had not yet begun, there were 28 bodies in its mortuaries, said Ramu Chandra Das, a morgue assistant.
Yet, general diaries from Shahbagh police and registers at DMCH morgue and Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a burial service, show that eight protesters were buried on July 24 as "unclaimed" bodies in Rayerbazar graveyard within one to six days of their deaths.
These eight bodies include Sohel Rana, Md Assadullah, Faisal Sarker and Rafiqul Islam, who were killed by gunshots (Read their story in Part 1 of this series). The identities of the rest four remain unknown.
Asked why they got rid of these bodies so fast, Ramu said, "It was done on police instructions. We could have kept the bodies longer."
(Left) Documents show six of the seven bodies buried by Anjuman on July 8 remained at the DMCH morgue for more than 10.
(Right) In contrast, all eight bodies sent from Shahbagh Police Station on July 24 were kept for less than two days.
Typically, DMCH reports about unclaimed bodies to police about a week after the bodies are brought to the hospital. Upon completion of various official processes, including autopsies, burial of such corpses takes about a month or even more.
"We could've kept the body longer; there were ample empty freezers. But the police took away the body."— Jatan Kumar, a morgue assistant at Suhrawardy hospital, about the hurried burial of a protester.
"We usually keep unclaimed bodies for at least a week in the morgue. Many bodies are also kept for months or even years," Ramu said.
Documentary evidence also suggests that DMCH does keep unclaimed bodies longer.
For instance, on July 8, 2024, a week before state forces began to kill protesters, Anjuman Mufidul sent seven bodies, all from DMCH, to Rayerbazar for burial. Records show they died between June 12 and July 4. This means, before these bodies were sent to Anjuman, six of the bodies were kept at mortuaries for about three weeks or more.
In contrast, Anjuman received eight bodies on July 24, by which time the number of corpses at hospitals was rising every day. Records show that four of these eight died just the previous day, and the four others the day before.
This suggests a systematic effort to erase evidence and prevent families from finding their loved ones.
According to the eight general diaries filed by Sub-inspector Jabbar from Shahbagh Police Station in relation to these bodies, six were from Jatrabari, and two from Uttara. All died from gunshot wounds, the GDs show.
Usually, Anjuman receives unclaimed bodies from hospitals after autopsies in the presence of police officers who facilitate the process. Before the handover of the bodies, representatives from Anjuman and a police officer are required to sign the morgue register.
"I just followed orders from Shahbagh's then officer-in-charge Mostajizur Rahman."— Constable Salauddin on why he rushed the burial of eight unidentified bodies.
However, this protocol was not followed in the case of at least nine bodies connected to the uprising.
Sub-inspector Salahuddin of Shahbagh police collected eight of these bodies from Dhaka Medical, and Sub-inspector Shakil Joarder of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police collected another body from Suhrawardy Medical.
In both instances, Anjuman received the bodies from the respective police stations rather than directly from the hospitals, documents show.
Asked why he rushed the burial of these individuals, Shahbagh police Constable Salauddin said he just followed orders from Shahbagh's then officer-in-charge Mostajizur Rahman. Two other police officers gave a similar version. Mostajizur could not be reached for comments.
Both the DMCH authorities and Salauddin claimed that no other bodies related to the protests were sent to Anjuman.
Medical Records Tampered
Apart from DMCH, two other hospitals in Dhaka store unclaimed bodies—Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Sir Salimullah Medical College (Mitford Hospital).
Both hospitals claim they haven't dealt with any protest-related unclaimed bodies.
Our findings about Suhrawardy Medical contradict this. (We did not investigate Mitford hospital's claim.)
Mahin Mia, one of the six confirmed by The Daily Star to have been buried at Rayerbazar as unclaimed bodies, protested on July 19 at Mohammadpur's Town Hall with his brother, Abdul Jabbar. Jabbar returned home, but Mahin did not.
Jabbar later found Mahin's picture among the deceased on Anjuman's "wall of the dead".
Mahin's wife gave birth to their first child 15 days after he disappeared.
The Daily Star found Mahin's autopsy report (autopsy # 679/24) from Suhrawardy Medical College. The report describes him as "unidentified" and says he was found on July 19, the day he went missing, with bullet wounds on both sides of his head.
His family later confirmed his identity from the photo on the autopsy report.
Suhrawardy Medical's morgue records show that Mahin's autopsy was done on July 20, and his body was handed over to Sher-e-Bangla police Sub-inspector Shakil Joarder two days later.
"We could've kept the body longer; there were ample empty freezers. But the police took away the body," says Jatan Kumar, a morgue assistant at the hospital.
SI Shakil told The Daily Star that he only handed over the body to Suhrawardy morgue, but did not collect it from there to send it for burial. However, the morgue register bears his name on two dates in relation to Mahin's body: on July 19, the day he handed over the body to Suhrawardy morgue for an autopsy, and on July 22, the day he collected it for burial. The Daily Star contacted him on the very mobile number recorded in the morgue register.
Despite such hard evidence, the Suhrawardy morgue authorities claim they did not deal with any unnamed bodies.
Apart from Mahin, eight other unclaimed bodies from Suhrawardy, with dates of death from July 17-23, were buried at Rayerbazar from July 22-27. Of them, five were aged between 23 and 35, according to the cemetery register.
At least some of these bodies are likely connected to the uprising, although we could not verify it as we could not collect their autopsy reports and other relevant documents.
Dhaka Medical's claim that only eight uprising victims were sent to Anjuman is also questionable.
For example, Ahmed Jilani was killed on August 3. His autopsy was conducted on August 13 at DMCH, and he was buried at Rayerbazar on August 31. The autopsy report shows he had gunshot and stab wounds on the back of his head.
Based on the autopsy numbers of the other eight bodies and Jilani, The Daily Star can confirm that Jilani is not on the DMCH list of the eight unnamed bodies buried at Rayerbazar.
Our suspicion that medical and burial records were tampered with to conceal the true extent of the massacre aligns with the UN fact-finding report.
The report, published last month, mentions that state agencies confiscated medical records and CCTV footage in many hospitals, without due process, and medical staff were pressured to withhold proper medical documentation.
In some hospitals, deaths from gunshot wounds were recorded as "accidental" under threat of legal action. From July 18 onwards, autopsies were often delayed or not conducted at all, violating national and international standards, the report adds.
[Read Part 3 tomorrow on how state agencies sought to cover up bodies, and how families were denied time to find their loved ones.]
AL govt sought to hide true extent of massacre
The ‘Wall of the Dead” at Anjuman Mufidul Islam. Among these 114 buried in unmarked graves in Rayerbazar in July-August 2024 are many victims of the July massacre. Photo: Collected
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.
They all had families, desperately searching for them amid a nationwide curfew and internet shutdown at the height of the July uprising. Yet, they were buried as "unclaimed" bodies within one to six days after being shot dead, before their loved ones could find them. Seven months after the July killings, these families do not know where their kin rest.
An investigation by The Daily Star indicates that the hasty burials of the victims were part of a systematic effort by the fallen Awami League government to conceal the true extent of the massacre.
In some cases, medical records were tampered with and standard protocols for handling unclaimed bodies were bypassed. In other cases, the police quickly disposed of the bodies even though hospital morgues had the capacity to keep them longer, according to documents and morgue sources.
For example, Dhaka Medical College Hospital has two morgues with a combined capacity to hold around 100 bodies.
Before July 15, when killings of the protesters had not yet begun, there were 28 bodies in its mortuaries, said Ramu Chandra Das, a morgue assistant.
Yet, general diaries from Shahbagh police and registers at DMCH morgue and Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a burial service, show that eight protesters were buried on July 24 as "unclaimed" bodies in Rayerbazar graveyard within one to six days of their deaths.
These eight bodies include Sohel Rana, Md Assadullah, Faisal Sarker and Rafiqul Islam, who were killed by gunshots (Read their story in Part 1 of this series). The identities of the rest four remain unknown.
Asked why they got rid of these bodies so fast, Ramu said, "It was done on police instructions. We could have kept the bodies longer."
(Left) Documents show six of the seven bodies buried by Anjuman on July 8 remained at the DMCH morgue for more than 10.
(Right) In contrast, all eight bodies sent from Shahbagh Police Station on July 24 were kept for less than two days.
Typically, DMCH reports about unclaimed bodies to police about a week after the bodies are brought to the hospital. Upon completion of various official processes, including autopsies, burial of such corpses takes about a month or even more.
"We could've kept the body longer; there were ample empty freezers. But the police took away the body."— Jatan Kumar, a morgue assistant at Suhrawardy hospital, about the hurried burial of a protester.
"We usually keep unclaimed bodies for at least a week in the morgue. Many bodies are also kept for months or even years," Ramu said.
Documentary evidence also suggests that DMCH does keep unclaimed bodies longer.
For instance, on July 8, 2024, a week before state forces began to kill protesters, Anjuman Mufidul sent seven bodies, all from DMCH, to Rayerbazar for burial. Records show they died between June 12 and July 4. This means, before these bodies were sent to Anjuman, six of the bodies were kept at mortuaries for about three weeks or more.
In contrast, Anjuman received eight bodies on July 24, by which time the number of corpses at hospitals was rising every day. Records show that four of these eight died just the previous day, and the four others the day before.
This suggests a systematic effort to erase evidence and prevent families from finding their loved ones.
According to the eight general diaries filed by Sub-inspector Jabbar from Shahbagh Police Station in relation to these bodies, six were from Jatrabari, and two from Uttara. All died from gunshot wounds, the GDs show.
Usually, Anjuman receives unclaimed bodies from hospitals after autopsies in the presence of police officers who facilitate the process. Before the handover of the bodies, representatives from Anjuman and a police officer are required to sign the morgue register.
"I just followed orders from Shahbagh's then officer-in-charge Mostajizur Rahman."— Constable Salauddin on why he rushed the burial of eight unidentified bodies.
However, this protocol was not followed in the case of at least nine bodies connected to the uprising.
Sub-inspector Salahuddin of Shahbagh police collected eight of these bodies from Dhaka Medical, and Sub-inspector Shakil Joarder of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police collected another body from Suhrawardy Medical.
In both instances, Anjuman received the bodies from the respective police stations rather than directly from the hospitals, documents show.
Asked why he rushed the burial of these individuals, Shahbagh police Constable Salauddin said he just followed orders from Shahbagh's then officer-in-charge Mostajizur Rahman. Two other police officers gave a similar version. Mostajizur could not be reached for comments.
Both the DMCH authorities and Salauddin claimed that no other bodies related to the protests were sent to Anjuman.
Medical Records Tampered
Apart from DMCH, two other hospitals in Dhaka store unclaimed bodies—Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Sir Salimullah Medical College (Mitford Hospital).
Both hospitals claim they haven't dealt with any protest-related unclaimed bodies.
Our findings about Suhrawardy Medical contradict this. (We did not investigate Mitford hospital's claim.)
Mahin Mia, one of the six confirmed by The Daily Star to have been buried at Rayerbazar as unclaimed bodies, protested on July 19 at Mohammadpur's Town Hall with his brother, Abdul Jabbar. Jabbar returned home, but Mahin did not.
Jabbar later found Mahin's picture among the deceased on Anjuman's "wall of the dead".
Mahin's wife gave birth to their first child 15 days after he disappeared.
The Daily Star found Mahin's autopsy report (autopsy # 679/24) from Suhrawardy Medical College. The report describes him as "unidentified" and says he was found on July 19, the day he went missing, with bullet wounds on both sides of his head.
His family later confirmed his identity from the photo on the autopsy report.
Suhrawardy Medical's morgue records show that Mahin's autopsy was done on July 20, and his body was handed over to Sher-e-Bangla police Sub-inspector Shakil Joarder two days later.
"We could've kept the body longer; there were ample empty freezers. But the police took away the body," says Jatan Kumar, a morgue assistant at the hospital.
SI Shakil told The Daily Star that he only handed over the body to Suhrawardy morgue, but did not collect it from there to send it for burial. However, the morgue register bears his name on two dates in relation to Mahin's body: on July 19, the day he handed over the body to Suhrawardy morgue for an autopsy, and on July 22, the day he collected it for burial. The Daily Star contacted him on the very mobile number recorded in the morgue register.
Despite such hard evidence, the Suhrawardy morgue authorities claim they did not deal with any unnamed bodies.
Apart from Mahin, eight other unclaimed bodies from Suhrawardy, with dates of death from July 17-23, were buried at Rayerbazar from July 22-27. Of them, five were aged between 23 and 35, according to the cemetery register.
At least some of these bodies are likely connected to the uprising, although we could not verify it as we could not collect their autopsy reports and other relevant documents.
Dhaka Medical's claim that only eight uprising victims were sent to Anjuman is also questionable.
For example, Ahmed Jilani was killed on August 3. His autopsy was conducted on August 13 at DMCH, and he was buried at Rayerbazar on August 31. The autopsy report shows he had gunshot and stab wounds on the back of his head.
Based on the autopsy numbers of the other eight bodies and Jilani, The Daily Star can confirm that Jilani is not on the DMCH list of the eight unnamed bodies buried at Rayerbazar.
Our suspicion that medical and burial records were tampered with to conceal the true extent of the massacre aligns with the UN fact-finding report.
The report, published last month, mentions that state agencies confiscated medical records and CCTV footage in many hospitals, without due process, and medical staff were pressured to withhold proper medical documentation.
In some hospitals, deaths from gunshot wounds were recorded as "accidental" under threat of legal action. From July 18 onwards, autopsies were often delayed or not conducted at all, violating national and international standards, the report adds.
[Read Part 3 tomorrow on how state agencies sought to cover up bodies, and how families were denied time to find their loved ones.]
Saif
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2024
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Families want closure, however painful
When we first started visiting Dhaka Medical College Hospital in January for this story, there were seven protest-related unclaimed bodies freezing in its mortuaries.
The disappeared of the July Uprising: Part 4
Families want closure, however painful
Rasheda Begum wants to know where her son was buried. Photo: Star
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones. This is the fourth and the last part of the series.
When we first started visiting Dhaka Medical College Hospital in January for this story, there were seven protest-related unclaimed bodies freezing in its mortuaries. One of them, Md Hasan, a teenage trader from Gulistan, was handed over to his family on February 14 after DNA tests. The remaining six are still stored at DMCH morgue, growing colder.
Hasan's father, Md Monir Hossain, had searched for his son everywhere -- hospitals, clinics, cemeteries, and even Anjuman Mufidul Islam since his son went missing on August 5, 2024, the day Sheikh Hasina fell and fled the country.
"To exhume bodies from graves, the request needs to come from the relevant police stations based on cases filed in connection to the incidents. We did not receive any such request from the police stations either."— Tanvir Ahmed, DC, Dhaka.
"After four months, student leaders told me about the seven bodies at Dhaka Medical. I identified my son from his clothing. He always wore white."
Md Sogir from Sylhet believes his son, Md Waliullah, 25, a trader from Elephant Road in the capital, is also among the bullet-ridden bodies in the DMCH mortuary.
"My son went missing in July. I looked for him for five months. The bodies are barely recognisable, but I identified my son through an old surgery mark on his right leg."
Sogir has given his DNA sample to the Criminal Investigation Department of police and is awaiting confirmation.
"Even if the identities of the unclaimed bodies are found, detection of the graves is challenging because they were buried collectively. There's no way of knowing who was buried where."— Kamrul Ahmed, head of Anjuman Mufidul Islam's burial service.
A SYSTEM FAILING THE VICTIMS
If the sample does not match and if no one comes looking for the rest of the bodies still freezing at DMCH, these men, who were once someone's family, will likely be buried as "nobodies" in unmarked graves like many others (read more in Part 1).
On January 25, 2025, former information adviser Nahid Islam visited the Rayerbazar graveyard to pay tribute to the unidentified martyrs of the July uprising. There, Nahid, currently the leader of National Citizen Party, assured the families of these victims that efforts to identify those buried in unmarked graves had begun.
Sohel Rana’s mother Rasheda Begum at Rayerbazar graveyard with July uprising leader Nahid Islam. A banner, top, placed in the cemetery demands that all unnamed victims buried there be identified. Photo: Star
Nahid along with other student leaders visited the graveyard again on March 4 after the launch of the new party, and reiterated their commitment to identifying the graves of the unclaimed bodies.
In reality, however, the process remains stuck in red tape.
In November last year, the July Uprising Cell under the health ministry gave families only a 12-day window to report missing persons, posting an obscure notice on a barely visible website. The Cell claims it did not receive any missing reports yet.
However, not a single of the 31 families we spoke to knew about this notice or the newspaper advertisements published by the cell. They don't even know where the office is.
Mahbub Ullah Mazumder, senior assistant secretary of July Foundation, has made a list of the six that this investigation confirmed to have been buried in Rayerbazar and one missing protester from Anjuman documents. After Mahbub shared the list with the cell, it only sent a letter to relevant ministries for actions.
Three government officials working on the July Uprising Cell said the health ministry is working to identify the missing bodies "very seriously" and asked The Daily Star to call health Secretary Md Saidur Rahman, who in turn advised us to contact Joint Secretary Dr SM Mustafizur Rahman.
The joint secretary said the ministry sent a letter to the deputy commissioner's office to take action. Dhaka DC Tanvir Ahmed said they did not receive the letter yet.
"To exhume bodies from graves, the request needs to come from the relevant police stations based on cases filed in connection with the incidents. We did not receive any such request from the police stations either," Tanvir added.
As the process remains stuck in the labyrinth of paper works involving a complex network of multiple government agencies, families of Sohel Rana, Faisal Sarker, Md Assadullah, Rafiqul Islam, Mahin Mia, Ahmed Jilani, and many other victims of the July massacre who remain missing, continue to look for answers.
They want to know where exactly their loved ones lie among the 114 buried in Block 4 of Rayerbazar. These graves, each marked solely by a bamboo pole, leave the families with no way of knowing that. Meanwhile, rain has flattened the graves, and the bamboo markers are rotting.
If a GD number, a photo, a birthmark, age, clothing or any previous injury marks had been placed on the bamboo pole before burying the unclaimed bodies, identifying them would have been easier. Now, if any relative claims a body, all the corpses would need to be exhumed for DNA profiling.
"Even if the identities of the unclaimed bodies are found, detection of the graves is challenging because they were buried collectively. There's no way of knowing who was buried where," said Kamrul Ahmed, head of Anjuman Mufidul Islam's burial service, who oversaw the burial of many July massacre victims.
Prof Kamrul Islam Sardar, who served as a forensic head at some of the top hospitals, said even if DNA samples were collected from every unclaimed body, they are now useless since the graves are unmarked.
"All the bodies would need to be exhumed for new DNA samples, and this would then need to be matched with relatives. This is a very complicated process which might take years if effective steps are not taken by the government to expedite the process," he added.
Only six families among the many families know that their kin have been buried in Rayerbazar.
One reason behind this is that many of the families we spoke to do not even know that places like Anjuman Mufidul or Rayerbazar exist. They tried to rely on the police, who, in many cases, offered little help.
Ahmad Ferdous, head of CID's Forensic DNA Laboratory, said they completed 11 DNA profiling of as many victims related to the uprising. Of them, five bodies have been handed over to family members after the samples matched. The rest six remain unidentified as there are no claims for these bodies.
DNA profiling for 10 more bodies connected to the uprising is currently underway, Ferdous added.
Meanwhile, many families continue to gather at Dhaka Medical College morgue every day to find their fathers, sons, brothers or husbands among the six uprising-linked bodies still lying unclaimed there.
Rasheda Begum, mother of Sohel Rana who was killed in police shooting and buried at Rayerbazar as an unclaimed body, keeps visiting Block 4 of the cemetery with teary eyes.
"Which one is my son's grave?" she asks anyone who would listen.
The families of Ridoy, Miraj, Maruf and many others want to know if they are dead or alive.
For these families, uncertainty overshadows the agony of their loss. They now want closure, however painful.
Assadullah's widow Farjana Akter is tormented every day as she cannot console her two children, aged ten and four.
"My children keep asking where their father's grave is. Since I cannot bring their father back alive, I at least want to show them where he rests, so they can have a place to grieve and remember him."
[Our correspondents from Gazipur, Bogura, Pabna and Thakurgaon contributed to this story.]
WHERE ARE THEY?
Sohel Sheikh a vegetable trader from Tongi
Sohel Sheikh joined a victory procession on August 5 after Hasina fled the country. He headed for Gono Bhaban, the official residence of the deposed prime minister, like tens of thousands of others.
By 6:00pm, his wife, Ayesha Akhter, got a call—Sohel had been shot in front of Uttara East Police Station. Over a dozen died there as police opened fire on protesters trying to storm in. The caller told Ayesha that Sohel Sheikh was being taken to Crescent Hospital in Uttara.
Defying the curfew, she came to Dhaka from Pirojpur, rented a house for two months and looked for her husband at Crescent and Dhaka Medical, but did not find him.
Her initial attempt to file a case was also stalled by officers. Uttara East police eventually recorded a missing diary instead of a case and told her to omit that her husband was shot. Ayesha has no updates about the investigation.
"I abandoned all hopes. I took out loans to stay in Dhaka and find him. No one helped me. I now live in Pirojpur with my in-laws," Ayesha said.
The Daily Star spoke to the person who called Ayesha on August 5. He and multiple witnesses said Sohel Sheikh was shot. No one knows what happened next.
Shahidul Islam Miraj a trader from Kaptan Bazar
Shahidul Islam Miraj was enraged after watching the video of the police shooting of Abu Sayed on July 16. He shared the video and wrote several Facebook posts, and joined the protest the next day. His social media shows he was active in Jatrabari-Shonir Akhra area since July 17.
His elder brother, Saiful Islam Mithil, warned him and asked him to stay home until normalcy returns. On July 27, Miraj left without telling his brother, and never came back.
At least five protesters said they saw him at Jatrabari Police Station on August 5, but we could not independently verify this. That day, Jatrabari police killed protesters one after another like targets in a video game.
For six months, Mithil looked for his brother in morgues, police stations, Anjuman Mufidul Islam and Rayerbazar graveyard. He just wants to know whether his brother is dead or alive.
Md Maruf a student from Mirpur
HSC examinee Md Maruf, 17, went missing from Dhaka's Mirpur on July 20. That was the first full day of the curfew.
After August 5, family filed a case with Rupnagar police station. But, there are no updates.
When his mother demanded an update, officers told her that her son committed suicide. But there is no corpse.
When we asked Investigating Officer Md. Ibrahim of Rupnagar police station on what basis he claims that Maruf died by suicide, he shrugged. "I don't even know who Maruf is."
Families want closure, however painful
Rasheda Begum wants to know where her son was buried. Photo: Star
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones. This is the fourth and the last part of the series.
When we first started visiting Dhaka Medical College Hospital in January for this story, there were seven protest-related unclaimed bodies freezing in its mortuaries. One of them, Md Hasan, a teenage trader from Gulistan, was handed over to his family on February 14 after DNA tests. The remaining six are still stored at DMCH morgue, growing colder.
Hasan's father, Md Monir Hossain, had searched for his son everywhere -- hospitals, clinics, cemeteries, and even Anjuman Mufidul Islam since his son went missing on August 5, 2024, the day Sheikh Hasina fell and fled the country.
"To exhume bodies from graves, the request needs to come from the relevant police stations based on cases filed in connection to the incidents. We did not receive any such request from the police stations either."— Tanvir Ahmed, DC, Dhaka.
"After four months, student leaders told me about the seven bodies at Dhaka Medical. I identified my son from his clothing. He always wore white."
Md Sogir from Sylhet believes his son, Md Waliullah, 25, a trader from Elephant Road in the capital, is also among the bullet-ridden bodies in the DMCH mortuary.
"My son went missing in July. I looked for him for five months. The bodies are barely recognisable, but I identified my son through an old surgery mark on his right leg."
Sogir has given his DNA sample to the Criminal Investigation Department of police and is awaiting confirmation.
"Even if the identities of the unclaimed bodies are found, detection of the graves is challenging because they were buried collectively. There's no way of knowing who was buried where."— Kamrul Ahmed, head of Anjuman Mufidul Islam's burial service.
A SYSTEM FAILING THE VICTIMS
If the sample does not match and if no one comes looking for the rest of the bodies still freezing at DMCH, these men, who were once someone's family, will likely be buried as "nobodies" in unmarked graves like many others (read more in Part 1).
On January 25, 2025, former information adviser Nahid Islam visited the Rayerbazar graveyard to pay tribute to the unidentified martyrs of the July uprising. There, Nahid, currently the leader of National Citizen Party, assured the families of these victims that efforts to identify those buried in unmarked graves had begun.
Sohel Rana’s mother Rasheda Begum at Rayerbazar graveyard with July uprising leader Nahid Islam. A banner, top, placed in the cemetery demands that all unnamed victims buried there be identified. Photo: Star
Nahid along with other student leaders visited the graveyard again on March 4 after the launch of the new party, and reiterated their commitment to identifying the graves of the unclaimed bodies.
In reality, however, the process remains stuck in red tape.
In November last year, the July Uprising Cell under the health ministry gave families only a 12-day window to report missing persons, posting an obscure notice on a barely visible website. The Cell claims it did not receive any missing reports yet.
However, not a single of the 31 families we spoke to knew about this notice or the newspaper advertisements published by the cell. They don't even know where the office is.
Mahbub Ullah Mazumder, senior assistant secretary of July Foundation, has made a list of the six that this investigation confirmed to have been buried in Rayerbazar and one missing protester from Anjuman documents. After Mahbub shared the list with the cell, it only sent a letter to relevant ministries for actions.
Three government officials working on the July Uprising Cell said the health ministry is working to identify the missing bodies "very seriously" and asked The Daily Star to call health Secretary Md Saidur Rahman, who in turn advised us to contact Joint Secretary Dr SM Mustafizur Rahman.
The joint secretary said the ministry sent a letter to the deputy commissioner's office to take action. Dhaka DC Tanvir Ahmed said they did not receive the letter yet.
"To exhume bodies from graves, the request needs to come from the relevant police stations based on cases filed in connection with the incidents. We did not receive any such request from the police stations either," Tanvir added.
As the process remains stuck in the labyrinth of paper works involving a complex network of multiple government agencies, families of Sohel Rana, Faisal Sarker, Md Assadullah, Rafiqul Islam, Mahin Mia, Ahmed Jilani, and many other victims of the July massacre who remain missing, continue to look for answers.
They want to know where exactly their loved ones lie among the 114 buried in Block 4 of Rayerbazar. These graves, each marked solely by a bamboo pole, leave the families with no way of knowing that. Meanwhile, rain has flattened the graves, and the bamboo markers are rotting.
If a GD number, a photo, a birthmark, age, clothing or any previous injury marks had been placed on the bamboo pole before burying the unclaimed bodies, identifying them would have been easier. Now, if any relative claims a body, all the corpses would need to be exhumed for DNA profiling.
"Even if the identities of the unclaimed bodies are found, detection of the graves is challenging because they were buried collectively. There's no way of knowing who was buried where," said Kamrul Ahmed, head of Anjuman Mufidul Islam's burial service, who oversaw the burial of many July massacre victims.
Prof Kamrul Islam Sardar, who served as a forensic head at some of the top hospitals, said even if DNA samples were collected from every unclaimed body, they are now useless since the graves are unmarked.
"All the bodies would need to be exhumed for new DNA samples, and this would then need to be matched with relatives. This is a very complicated process which might take years if effective steps are not taken by the government to expedite the process," he added.
Only six families among the many families know that their kin have been buried in Rayerbazar.
One reason behind this is that many of the families we spoke to do not even know that places like Anjuman Mufidul or Rayerbazar exist. They tried to rely on the police, who, in many cases, offered little help.
Ahmad Ferdous, head of CID's Forensic DNA Laboratory, said they completed 11 DNA profiling of as many victims related to the uprising. Of them, five bodies have been handed over to family members after the samples matched. The rest six remain unidentified as there are no claims for these bodies.
DNA profiling for 10 more bodies connected to the uprising is currently underway, Ferdous added.
Meanwhile, many families continue to gather at Dhaka Medical College morgue every day to find their fathers, sons, brothers or husbands among the six uprising-linked bodies still lying unclaimed there.
Rasheda Begum, mother of Sohel Rana who was killed in police shooting and buried at Rayerbazar as an unclaimed body, keeps visiting Block 4 of the cemetery with teary eyes.
"Which one is my son's grave?" she asks anyone who would listen.
The families of Ridoy, Miraj, Maruf and many others want to know if they are dead or alive.
For these families, uncertainty overshadows the agony of their loss. They now want closure, however painful.
Assadullah's widow Farjana Akter is tormented every day as she cannot console her two children, aged ten and four.
"My children keep asking where their father's grave is. Since I cannot bring their father back alive, I at least want to show them where he rests, so they can have a place to grieve and remember him."
[Our correspondents from Gazipur, Bogura, Pabna and Thakurgaon contributed to this story.]
WHERE ARE THEY?
Sohel Sheikh a vegetable trader from Tongi
Sohel Sheikh joined a victory procession on August 5 after Hasina fled the country. He headed for Gono Bhaban, the official residence of the deposed prime minister, like tens of thousands of others.
By 6:00pm, his wife, Ayesha Akhter, got a call—Sohel had been shot in front of Uttara East Police Station. Over a dozen died there as police opened fire on protesters trying to storm in. The caller told Ayesha that Sohel Sheikh was being taken to Crescent Hospital in Uttara.
Defying the curfew, she came to Dhaka from Pirojpur, rented a house for two months and looked for her husband at Crescent and Dhaka Medical, but did not find him.
Her initial attempt to file a case was also stalled by officers. Uttara East police eventually recorded a missing diary instead of a case and told her to omit that her husband was shot. Ayesha has no updates about the investigation.
"I abandoned all hopes. I took out loans to stay in Dhaka and find him. No one helped me. I now live in Pirojpur with my in-laws," Ayesha said.
The Daily Star spoke to the person who called Ayesha on August 5. He and multiple witnesses said Sohel Sheikh was shot. No one knows what happened next.
Shahidul Islam Miraj a trader from Kaptan Bazar
Shahidul Islam Miraj was enraged after watching the video of the police shooting of Abu Sayed on July 16. He shared the video and wrote several Facebook posts, and joined the protest the next day. His social media shows he was active in Jatrabari-Shonir Akhra area since July 17.
His elder brother, Saiful Islam Mithil, warned him and asked him to stay home until normalcy returns. On July 27, Miraj left without telling his brother, and never came back.
At least five protesters said they saw him at Jatrabari Police Station on August 5, but we could not independently verify this. That day, Jatrabari police killed protesters one after another like targets in a video game.
For six months, Mithil looked for his brother in morgues, police stations, Anjuman Mufidul Islam and Rayerbazar graveyard. He just wants to know whether his brother is dead or alive.
Md Maruf a student from Mirpur
HSC examinee Md Maruf, 17, went missing from Dhaka's Mirpur on July 20. That was the first full day of the curfew.
After August 5, family filed a case with Rupnagar police station. But, there are no updates.
When his mother demanded an update, officers told her that her son committed suicide. But there is no corpse.
When we asked Investigating Officer Md. Ibrahim of Rupnagar police station on what basis he claims that Maruf died by suicide, he shrugged. "I don't even know who Maruf is."
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A systematic cover up of bodies
On the afternoon of August 5, 2024, word spread across the country that Sheikh Hasina fled to India. In Gazipur, like elsewhere in the country, thousands poured into the streets in celebration. But there was also anger.
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The disappeared of the July Uprising: Part 3
A systematic cover up of bodies
Md Ridoy lies on the street after being shot at point-blank range by police on August 5.
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.
On the afternoon of August 5, 2024, word spread across the country that Sheikh Hasina fled to India. In Gazipur, like elsewhere in the country, thousands poured into the streets in celebration. But there was also anger.
A group of protesters started chanting slogans outside Konabari Police Station, and the police opened fire. The protesters dispersed, but the cops kept hunting them down in nearby alleys.
Md Ridoy, 20, a student and an autorickshaw driver, found himself trapped in one such alley. The cops cornered him, dragged him onto the main road, right in front of Shareef General Hospital, according to authenticated video footage seen by The Daily Star.
Six officers closed in–one raised a stick, another held onto his shirt so he could not escape. Meanwhile, a third, later identified as Constable Akram, slowly stepped behind him with a gun in hand, like a predator marking its prey. Another cop slapped him. Simultaneously, Akram put the gun in his back and then pulled the trigger!
Ridoy collapsed, but the 20-year old was still breathing. The cops walked away as Ridoy bled profusely.
Minutes later, three officers returned, and carried him behind the police lines from where they were still firing at protesters. From there, three others, one in uniform and another in civilian clothing, dragged him towards an alley which leads straight to the Konabari Police Station. Ridoy is never seen again.
The International Truth and Justice Project, an organisation documenting crimes against humanity, has also investigated this incident.
"We went to the Konabari Police Station the next day. All we could find was the lungi Ridoy was wearing underneath a desk," said Md Ibrahim, Ridoy's brother-in-law.
This newspaper found another video from the night of August 5, 2024, which shows the inside of the Konabari Police Station. Some policemen were seen making preparations to leave. In the video was a man wearing a white sleeveless undershirt and a lungi. Ridoy's relatives and locals identified him as Abed Ali, a trader.
Police drag Ridoy through the streets towards Konabari Police Station after shooting him.
According to Ibrahim and five locals, Abed helped the cops in disposing of Ridoy's body. Abed Ali could not be reached for comment.
Seven months on, Ridoy's family does not know where his body is. His name is not on the list of July martyrs prepared by the government, and his family is yet to receive any compensation from the government, his sister Jesmin Akhter said.
Five policemen, including Constable Akram and former Gazipur Detective Branch inspector Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, have since been arrested over Ridoy's killing. The case now sits before the International Crimes Tribunal.
A MASSACRE
As Ridoy bled out in Gazipur, a massacre unfolded in Savar's Ashulia.
Since the morning of August 5, Sheikh Hasina's final day in power, police were shooting relentlessly, blocking protesters from marching to Dhaka. Bodies were dropping one after another, blood soaking the streets.
A video that later emerged shows six bodies, bloodstained and barely covered, lying stacked on a van in front of Ashulia Police Station. One man was still moving and breathing, his fingers twitching.
In the video, later authenticated by fact checkers, Dhaka District Detective Branch Inspector Arafat Hossain is seen walking past. Beside him stands Masudur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.
Then—flames. The bodies burn.
Several bodies are piled up on a pickup in Ashulia moments before police set them of fire.
At least one of these victims, the one who was still seen moving and breathing, was certainly burned alive. Their remains were subsequently dumped in Ambagan graveyard, next to the police station.
The next day, the graves were opened, and six charred bodies were pulled from the earth. Families identified four of them–Ash-Sabur, Sazzad Hossen Sajal, Tanjil Ahmed Sujoy, and Baygid Bostame. Their faces barely recognisable, some were identified only by their clothes and identity cards.
The remaining two bodies are completely unrecognisable and have been sent for DNA profiling after families contacted police, said Kamal Hossen, inspector (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station.
The International Crimes Tribunal is now investigating this case. DB Inspector Arafat Hossain and ex-additional SP of Dhaka Abdullahil Kafi have been arrested over this incident.
The attempted cover-up in Gazipur and Savar is only the tip of the iceberg.
The UN report on the July uprising says that there are cases where "police collected bodies of unidentified victims, and it is unclear to what extent the bodies were later handed over to morgues and duly reported to health authorities."
About the burning of bodies, the report says that police did so to "create the false impression that the victims had been killed by protesters."
Meanwhile, at least 5 protesters from Savar still remain missing. Tamim Sikder, Moniruzzaman Milon, Omor Faruk and Abul Hossen went missing on August 5 from near Ashulia police station. Shahadat Hossain, a day labourer, remains missing since August 4, fellow protesters and family members said.
FAMILIES DENIED TIME TO FIND BODIES
Sohel Rana, 28, went missing on July 18 near Jatrabari. His younger brother, Md Nabil, stepped out the next morning to look for him but could not go far. Jatrabari was a warzone.
The government enforced a countrywide curfew that night, and the internet had been shut down.
Nabil still went out the next morning again to search for his brother, but got assaulted by the cops. He finally found his way inside Dhaka Medical College Hospital on July 21, risking his life amid curfew.
"There were bodies stacked on top of each other. Each freezer had two bodies in it," he said.
But he could not find his brother among so many bodies. Nabil returned to DMCH and visited Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a burial service, multiple times before August 5, but found no luck.
"We went to the Konabari Police Station the next day. All we could find was the lungi Ridoy was wearing underneath a desk,"— Md Ibrahim Ridoy's brother-in-law.
Sixteen days after Sheikh Hasina's fall and 34 days after Sohel disappeared, Nabil found his brother's photograph at DMCH on August 21. Later, he rushed to Anjuman only to find that his brother, along with eight others, was buried at an unmarked grave in Rayerbazar [Read more in Part 1] on July 24.
The Daily Star has tracked down the unnamed General Diary that Shahbagh police filed for Sohel. It states that Sohel was shot during protests in Jatrabari's Kajla area and died while receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical's emergency ward on July 18.
We also obtained Sohel Rana's inquest report. It says he died from multiple pellet wounds near the chest. Bruises on his back and other parts suggested possible torture before death.
Meanwhile, Md Assadullah, a 30-year-old private car driver, left his Uttara home after lunch on July 19. He was shot on Road 2 of Uttara's Sector 7.
Video footage verified by this newspaper shows Turag Thana Chhatra League Vice-President Murtafa Bin Omar, alias Sathil, wielding a shotgun, firing indiscriminately at protesters in Uttara that day.
With him were Jubo League leader Sohel Rana, councillors Yuvraj and Naim, and Yuvraj's son Leon, according to protesters, locals and the July Revolutionary Alliance, a student platform documenting the massacre.
Several shots, fired by Sathil, hit Assadullah, according to three protesters and the CCTV footage seen by The Daily Star.
Assadullah's family received a call from a protester that night saying he had been shot.
The curfew had already been announced. The next morning, his wife Farjana Akter went to Uttara Crescent Hospital and then DMCH to find him.
When she was looking for her husband in the morgue, emergency section, and other wards of DMCH, Assadullah was still alive. He was receiving treatment at the hospital's burn unit, according to CCTV footage seen by this newspaper.
There, lying in a bed, he took his last breath on July 22. Two days later, he was buried at Rayerbazar in an unmarked grave. Meanwhile, Farjana kept looking.
Sathil faces at least 11 cases over murder during the July uprising, locals and police sources said. Sathil and the rest of the AL activists seen in the video are now on the run, and could not be contacted for comment.
On July 19, the same day Assadullah was shot, Faisal vanished from Uttara, and Rafiqul from Gopibagh. They too, were buried in Rayerbazar on July 24 as unclaimed bodies.
A request for burial sent to Anjuman from Shahbagh police station, along with pictures of the bodies, writes, "As no one claimed these individuals, we are handing over the bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam for burial."
But the fact is, families were still looking for their loved ones–they only did not know where to find them.
[Our Savar Correspondent Aklakur Rahman Akash and Tangail Correspondent Mirza Shakil Contributed to this report]
Read part 4 tomorrow on the agonising wait of the families for the bodies of their relatives.
A systematic cover up of bodies
Md Ridoy lies on the street after being shot at point-blank range by police on August 5.
Seven months after the July uprising in Bangladesh, many protesters still remain missing. We investigated 31 cases: six were buried as unclaimed bodies at Rayerbazar graveyard; four were identified by families from among the charred bodies in Ashulia; two were handed over to families after DNA testing; and 19 are still unaccounted for. We found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the victims so they can never be found again. This four-part series also documents how families were denied time to collect the corpses from hospital morgues, and how they are now waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.
On the afternoon of August 5, 2024, word spread across the country that Sheikh Hasina fled to India. In Gazipur, like elsewhere in the country, thousands poured into the streets in celebration. But there was also anger.
A group of protesters started chanting slogans outside Konabari Police Station, and the police opened fire. The protesters dispersed, but the cops kept hunting them down in nearby alleys.
Md Ridoy, 20, a student and an autorickshaw driver, found himself trapped in one such alley. The cops cornered him, dragged him onto the main road, right in front of Shareef General Hospital, according to authenticated video footage seen by The Daily Star.
Six officers closed in–one raised a stick, another held onto his shirt so he could not escape. Meanwhile, a third, later identified as Constable Akram, slowly stepped behind him with a gun in hand, like a predator marking its prey. Another cop slapped him. Simultaneously, Akram put the gun in his back and then pulled the trigger!
Ridoy collapsed, but the 20-year old was still breathing. The cops walked away as Ridoy bled profusely.
Minutes later, three officers returned, and carried him behind the police lines from where they were still firing at protesters. From there, three others, one in uniform and another in civilian clothing, dragged him towards an alley which leads straight to the Konabari Police Station. Ridoy is never seen again.
The International Truth and Justice Project, an organisation documenting crimes against humanity, has also investigated this incident.
"We went to the Konabari Police Station the next day. All we could find was the lungi Ridoy was wearing underneath a desk," said Md Ibrahim, Ridoy's brother-in-law.
This newspaper found another video from the night of August 5, 2024, which shows the inside of the Konabari Police Station. Some policemen were seen making preparations to leave. In the video was a man wearing a white sleeveless undershirt and a lungi. Ridoy's relatives and locals identified him as Abed Ali, a trader.
Police drag Ridoy through the streets towards Konabari Police Station after shooting him.
According to Ibrahim and five locals, Abed helped the cops in disposing of Ridoy's body. Abed Ali could not be reached for comment.
Seven months on, Ridoy's family does not know where his body is. His name is not on the list of July martyrs prepared by the government, and his family is yet to receive any compensation from the government, his sister Jesmin Akhter said.
Five policemen, including Constable Akram and former Gazipur Detective Branch inspector Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, have since been arrested over Ridoy's killing. The case now sits before the International Crimes Tribunal.
A MASSACRE
As Ridoy bled out in Gazipur, a massacre unfolded in Savar's Ashulia.
Since the morning of August 5, Sheikh Hasina's final day in power, police were shooting relentlessly, blocking protesters from marching to Dhaka. Bodies were dropping one after another, blood soaking the streets.
A video that later emerged shows six bodies, bloodstained and barely covered, lying stacked on a van in front of Ashulia Police Station. One man was still moving and breathing, his fingers twitching.
In the video, later authenticated by fact checkers, Dhaka District Detective Branch Inspector Arafat Hossain is seen walking past. Beside him stands Masudur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.
Then—flames. The bodies burn.
Several bodies are piled up on a pickup in Ashulia moments before police set them of fire.
At least one of these victims, the one who was still seen moving and breathing, was certainly burned alive. Their remains were subsequently dumped in Ambagan graveyard, next to the police station.
The next day, the graves were opened, and six charred bodies were pulled from the earth. Families identified four of them–Ash-Sabur, Sazzad Hossen Sajal, Tanjil Ahmed Sujoy, and Baygid Bostame. Their faces barely recognisable, some were identified only by their clothes and identity cards.
The remaining two bodies are completely unrecognisable and have been sent for DNA profiling after families contacted police, said Kamal Hossen, inspector (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station.
The International Crimes Tribunal is now investigating this case. DB Inspector Arafat Hossain and ex-additional SP of Dhaka Abdullahil Kafi have been arrested over this incident.
The attempted cover-up in Gazipur and Savar is only the tip of the iceberg.
The UN report on the July uprising says that there are cases where "police collected bodies of unidentified victims, and it is unclear to what extent the bodies were later handed over to morgues and duly reported to health authorities."
About the burning of bodies, the report says that police did so to "create the false impression that the victims had been killed by protesters."
Meanwhile, at least 5 protesters from Savar still remain missing. Tamim Sikder, Moniruzzaman Milon, Omor Faruk and Abul Hossen went missing on August 5 from near Ashulia police station. Shahadat Hossain, a day labourer, remains missing since August 4, fellow protesters and family members said.
FAMILIES DENIED TIME TO FIND BODIES
Sohel Rana, 28, went missing on July 18 near Jatrabari. His younger brother, Md Nabil, stepped out the next morning to look for him but could not go far. Jatrabari was a warzone.
The government enforced a countrywide curfew that night, and the internet had been shut down.
Nabil still went out the next morning again to search for his brother, but got assaulted by the cops. He finally found his way inside Dhaka Medical College Hospital on July 21, risking his life amid curfew.
"There were bodies stacked on top of each other. Each freezer had two bodies in it," he said.
But he could not find his brother among so many bodies. Nabil returned to DMCH and visited Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a burial service, multiple times before August 5, but found no luck.
"We went to the Konabari Police Station the next day. All we could find was the lungi Ridoy was wearing underneath a desk,"— Md Ibrahim Ridoy's brother-in-law.
Sixteen days after Sheikh Hasina's fall and 34 days after Sohel disappeared, Nabil found his brother's photograph at DMCH on August 21. Later, he rushed to Anjuman only to find that his brother, along with eight others, was buried at an unmarked grave in Rayerbazar [Read more in Part 1] on July 24.
The Daily Star has tracked down the unnamed General Diary that Shahbagh police filed for Sohel. It states that Sohel was shot during protests in Jatrabari's Kajla area and died while receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical's emergency ward on July 18.
We also obtained Sohel Rana's inquest report. It says he died from multiple pellet wounds near the chest. Bruises on his back and other parts suggested possible torture before death.
Meanwhile, Md Assadullah, a 30-year-old private car driver, left his Uttara home after lunch on July 19. He was shot on Road 2 of Uttara's Sector 7.
Video footage verified by this newspaper shows Turag Thana Chhatra League Vice-President Murtafa Bin Omar, alias Sathil, wielding a shotgun, firing indiscriminately at protesters in Uttara that day.
With him were Jubo League leader Sohel Rana, councillors Yuvraj and Naim, and Yuvraj's son Leon, according to protesters, locals and the July Revolutionary Alliance, a student platform documenting the massacre.
Several shots, fired by Sathil, hit Assadullah, according to three protesters and the CCTV footage seen by The Daily Star.
Assadullah's family received a call from a protester that night saying he had been shot.
The curfew had already been announced. The next morning, his wife Farjana Akter went to Uttara Crescent Hospital and then DMCH to find him.
When she was looking for her husband in the morgue, emergency section, and other wards of DMCH, Assadullah was still alive. He was receiving treatment at the hospital's burn unit, according to CCTV footage seen by this newspaper.
There, lying in a bed, he took his last breath on July 22. Two days later, he was buried at Rayerbazar in an unmarked grave. Meanwhile, Farjana kept looking.
Sathil faces at least 11 cases over murder during the July uprising, locals and police sources said. Sathil and the rest of the AL activists seen in the video are now on the run, and could not be contacted for comment.
On July 19, the same day Assadullah was shot, Faisal vanished from Uttara, and Rafiqul from Gopibagh. They too, were buried in Rayerbazar on July 24 as unclaimed bodies.
A request for burial sent to Anjuman from Shahbagh police station, along with pictures of the bodies, writes, "As no one claimed these individuals, we are handing over the bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam for burial."
But the fact is, families were still looking for their loved ones–they only did not know where to find them.
[Our Savar Correspondent Aklakur Rahman Akash and Tangail Correspondent Mirza Shakil Contributed to this report]
Read part 4 tomorrow on the agonising wait of the families for the bodies of their relatives.
Saif
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Tarique Rahman sends Eid gifts to families of July martyrs
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, on behalf of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, on Saturday visited the residence of July uprising martyr rickshaw puller Kamal and exchanged greetings with the family...
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Tarique Rahman sends Eid gifts to families of July martyrs
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka 07 June, 2025, 21:49
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, on behalf of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, visits the residence of a July uprising martyr in Dhaka on Saturday. | BSS photo
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, on behalf of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, on Saturday visited the residence of July uprising martyr rickshaw puller Kamal and exchanged greetings with the family.
Financial assistance was also provided to Kamal’s wife on the occasion.
Later, Rizvi also handed over Eid gifts to the family of Saikat, a meritorious student who was martyred on July 19, 2024, in Mohammadpur in the capital.
He also visited the family of Swechchhasebak Dal leader Kawsar, who disappeared on December 4, 2013, in Nakhalpara, the capital.
BNP health affairs secretary Md Rafiqul Islam, leader engineer Iqbalur Rahman Rokon, DAB leader Shariful Islam, Lohani Tajul Islam and Chhatra Dal vice-president Touhidur Rahman Awal were present, among others.
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka 07 June, 2025, 21:49
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, on behalf of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, visits the residence of a July uprising martyr in Dhaka on Saturday. | BSS photo
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, on behalf of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, on Saturday visited the residence of July uprising martyr rickshaw puller Kamal and exchanged greetings with the family.
Financial assistance was also provided to Kamal’s wife on the occasion.
Later, Rizvi also handed over Eid gifts to the family of Saikat, a meritorious student who was martyred on July 19, 2024, in Mohammadpur in the capital.
He also visited the family of Swechchhasebak Dal leader Kawsar, who disappeared on December 4, 2013, in Nakhalpara, the capital.
BNP health affairs secretary Md Rafiqul Islam, leader engineer Iqbalur Rahman Rokon, DAB leader Shariful Islam, Lohani Tajul Islam and Chhatra Dal vice-president Touhidur Rahman Awal were present, among others.
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Bangladesh should strive for sovereignty like Iran or else its just not going to work!
Stupid Bangladeshi people need to understand how to gain sovereignty. Not by watching cricket or bollywood or erthaghrul chutiya turkish/ pakistani dramay.
Learn from da boss!
Stupid Bangladeshi people need to understand how to gain sovereignty. Not by watching cricket or bollywood or erthaghrul chutiya turkish/ pakistani dramay.
Learn from da boss!
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Hasina has made a significant chunk of the Bangladeshi population addicted to Bollywood cheap movies. Dr. Yunus should put more efforts to reverse that. To emulate Iran we need leaders of the same caliber which we don't have right now.
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Eight projects in ADP for July uprising victims
Several ministries and divisions have proposed a total of eight projects, with a combined estimated cost of over Tk 38.13 billion, for honouring and rehabilitating the participants and victims of the July 2024 student-led anti-discrimination uprising. The initiatives have been taken to address soc
Eight projects in ADP for July uprising victims
JAHIDUL ISLAM
Published :
Jun 15, 2025 00:07
Updated :
Jun 15, 2025 00:07
Several ministries and divisions have proposed a total of eight projects, with a combined estimated cost of over Tk 38.13 billion, for honouring and rehabilitating the participants and victims of the July 2024 student-led anti-discrimination uprising.
The initiatives have been taken to address social protection, economic empowerment, housing, and commemorative needs of those injured, bereaved, or otherwise affected by the historic movement, according to a senior official of the Planning Commission.
All of these projects submitted by six different ministries have been included in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the upcoming fiscal year without approval and allocation in order to expedite the approval process.
An analysis of the ADP book reveals that several agencies under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs are slated to implement these projects.
The National Housing Authority under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works will spend the highest Tk 27.22 billion to implement two separate projects with an aim of providing permanent housing facilities to the families of those who were injured and martyred in the July Movement.
Under the projects a total of 25 fourteen-storey residential buildings in Sections 9 and 16 of Dhaka's Mirpur area will be built. These flats are intended to be provided free of cost to the families of martyrs and those seriously injured during the July 2024 uprising.
According to the project proposal, each martyr's family will receive a 1,250 square feet flat, while individuals classified as Class A injured will be allotted 1,000 square feet flats each.
The project sites will feature essential amenities, including educational institutions, mosques, markets, community centers, playgrounds, roads, and full utility services such as water, gas, and electricity.
Construction is expected to begin this year, with the flats scheduled for handover by June 2029, a senior official of the National Housing Authority confirmed.
The Ministry of Social Welfare proposed a project titled "Social Safety Inclusion and Self-reliance for Victims of the Anti-Discrimination Student-People's Movement" at an estimated cost of Tk 750 million.
The project is aimed at providing social safety net support, financial aid, and empowerment services to victims who were injured or socially and economically affected. The Department of Social Services (DSS) will implement the project by December 2027.
Recognizing the gender-specific vulnerabilities during the movement, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has proposed a project worth Tk 2.50 billion to identify and support women who suffered during the July uprising.
Under the supervision of the Department of Women Affairs, the project is aimed at ensuring targeted psychosocial support, health services, and reintegration opportunities for affected women.
The government is also focused on documenting and archiving the uprising as part of the national historical record. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposed two projects involving estimated costs of Tk 963.95 million. The Bangladesh Film Archive will receive Tk 491.1 million for the collection and preservation of audiovisual documentation from both domestic and international sources related to the uprising.
The Department of Archives and Libraries will establish a digital oral history archive with an allocation of Tk 472.85 million. The archive will preserve the voices and experiences of victims, witnesses, and participants for future generations.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports, through the Department of Youth Development, has outlined a project titled "Socio-Economic Empowerment of Injured and Martyred Families through Skills Training and Self-Employment Creation".
With an allocation of Tk 6.50 billion, this initiative will offer vocational training and startup support to ensure long-term economic rehabilitation for affected individuals.
To honour those who lost their lives, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has proposed a Tk 200 million project to construct epitaphs at the burial sites of those martyred in the July 2024 uprising.
This symbolic gesture is aimed at formally recognising the sacrifices made and preserve their memory, reveal the project documents.
The projects represent a comprehensive, multi-ministerial effort to respond to the wide-ranging impact of the July 2024 uprising, which was driven by students and supported by broader civil society to protest against systemic discrimination.
JAHIDUL ISLAM
Published :
Jun 15, 2025 00:07
Updated :
Jun 15, 2025 00:07
Several ministries and divisions have proposed a total of eight projects, with a combined estimated cost of over Tk 38.13 billion, for honouring and rehabilitating the participants and victims of the July 2024 student-led anti-discrimination uprising.
The initiatives have been taken to address social protection, economic empowerment, housing, and commemorative needs of those injured, bereaved, or otherwise affected by the historic movement, according to a senior official of the Planning Commission.
All of these projects submitted by six different ministries have been included in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the upcoming fiscal year without approval and allocation in order to expedite the approval process.
An analysis of the ADP book reveals that several agencies under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs are slated to implement these projects.
The National Housing Authority under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works will spend the highest Tk 27.22 billion to implement two separate projects with an aim of providing permanent housing facilities to the families of those who were injured and martyred in the July Movement.
Under the projects a total of 25 fourteen-storey residential buildings in Sections 9 and 16 of Dhaka's Mirpur area will be built. These flats are intended to be provided free of cost to the families of martyrs and those seriously injured during the July 2024 uprising.
According to the project proposal, each martyr's family will receive a 1,250 square feet flat, while individuals classified as Class A injured will be allotted 1,000 square feet flats each.
The project sites will feature essential amenities, including educational institutions, mosques, markets, community centers, playgrounds, roads, and full utility services such as water, gas, and electricity.
Construction is expected to begin this year, with the flats scheduled for handover by June 2029, a senior official of the National Housing Authority confirmed.
The Ministry of Social Welfare proposed a project titled "Social Safety Inclusion and Self-reliance for Victims of the Anti-Discrimination Student-People's Movement" at an estimated cost of Tk 750 million.
The project is aimed at providing social safety net support, financial aid, and empowerment services to victims who were injured or socially and economically affected. The Department of Social Services (DSS) will implement the project by December 2027.
Recognizing the gender-specific vulnerabilities during the movement, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has proposed a project worth Tk 2.50 billion to identify and support women who suffered during the July uprising.
Under the supervision of the Department of Women Affairs, the project is aimed at ensuring targeted psychosocial support, health services, and reintegration opportunities for affected women.
The government is also focused on documenting and archiving the uprising as part of the national historical record. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposed two projects involving estimated costs of Tk 963.95 million. The Bangladesh Film Archive will receive Tk 491.1 million for the collection and preservation of audiovisual documentation from both domestic and international sources related to the uprising.
The Department of Archives and Libraries will establish a digital oral history archive with an allocation of Tk 472.85 million. The archive will preserve the voices and experiences of victims, witnesses, and participants for future generations.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports, through the Department of Youth Development, has outlined a project titled "Socio-Economic Empowerment of Injured and Martyred Families through Skills Training and Self-Employment Creation".
With an allocation of Tk 6.50 billion, this initiative will offer vocational training and startup support to ensure long-term economic rehabilitation for affected individuals.
To honour those who lost their lives, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has proposed a Tk 200 million project to construct epitaphs at the burial sites of those martyred in the July 2024 uprising.
This symbolic gesture is aimed at formally recognising the sacrifices made and preserve their memory, reveal the project documents.
The projects represent a comprehensive, multi-ministerial effort to respond to the wide-ranging impact of the July 2024 uprising, which was driven by students and supported by broader civil society to protest against systemic discrimination.
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Many victims yet to get any help
Sufferings and disappointment of the people wounded in the July uprising deepens on as many of them have yet to receive any or furhter financial help from the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation...
www.newagebd.net
Many victims yet to get any help
Kamrun Nahar Sumy 20 July, 2025, 23:54
Sufferings and disappointment of the people wounded in the July uprising deepens on as many of them have yet to receive any or furhter financial help from the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation.
The foundation, launched on September 17, 2024 with an initial amount of Tk 100 crore from the chief adviser’s relief and welfare fund, was meant to support uprising victims.
The foundation has until July 15 disbursed Tk 1,00,000 each to 6,691 wounded individuals in the first phase and Tk 5,00,000 each to 806, out of 852, families, of the martyred.
Out of the 14,541 people registered as wounded with the government, keeping to the foundation, 8,718 have sought help. And, 523 people have also received the second-phase grant.
But many have yet to receive any help. There are 2,027 such victims while the victims who have received the first-phase grant keep struggling to get the grant for the next phase.
Md Rakibul Islam, who has received the first-phase grant, has said, ‘They just don’t care about us.’ Rakibul, who walks with crutches, has visited the foundation seven to eight times.
Rakibul, who lives at Savar, was wounded on August 4, 2024 as a law enforcer’s vehicle ran over him in front of Jahangirnagar University.
He visited the foundation on July 2 with a mind to go on a fast unto death as he has not received the second-phase grant.
‘I have been jobless for a year. I can’t fold the right leg. It is difficult to walk to the foundation repeatedly,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, I don’t have money to pay the fare,’ said Rakibul, father of a three-year-old daughter.
The foundation has told Rakibul, a Category B victim, that he would receive the grant once the amended category list was notified.
The foundation’s chief executive officer Kamal Akbar, a retired colonel, said on July 13 that the foundation did not have enough funds to help all the victims.
‘The initial plan was to manage the funds through the liberation war affairs ministry. But the government has later decided to provide the wounded with monthly allowance.’ he said.
‘We have to make the wounded understand that they would be receiving the money in monthly allowance,’ he said, noting that the foundation, which had about Tk 8 crore on July 12, now has Tk 1.20 crore.
The foundation has decided that Category A victims, who were critically injured and have lost limbs, will get Tk 4,00,000 in grant, Category B victims, who were severely injured but have not lost any limbs, will receive Tk 3,00,000 and Category C victims, who were injured but can work, will receive Tk 2,00,000.
Among the 600 wounded classified in Category A, 220 have yet to get the second-phase grant until July 13.
In the first phase, victims of all categories will receive Tk 1,00,000 and the remaining amount will be given in the second phase.
As for fund shortage, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said that the government has allocated Tk 30,00,000 each for martyr’s family.
The government will provide the injured with a regular allowance and has issued health cards for them to ensure their treatment in public hospitals, he said.
The government is considering rehabilitation of the martyr families who lost their earning members by providing them with jobs, he added. The finance ministry has already allocated funds and designated two areas at Mirpur in Dhaka to build flats for the victims.
The injured, some on crutches, even from outlying areas, meanwhile, keep visiting the foundation repeatedly, hoping to get financial help even to repay treatment-related loans, cover follow-up medical expenses or ensure their daily meals.
About 25 of the injured, some admitted to hospitals in Dhaka, vandalised the foundation’s office on July 8 after they had failed to get the second-phase grant despite being repeatedly promised.
The foundation on July 13 provided 73 of the injured, including some of whom vandalised the office, with the second-phase grant.
Saiful Islam, a carpenter shot in the left leg at Azampur of Uttara in Dhaka on July 19, 2024, who sought help about three months ago and has since visited the foundation six to seven times, has yet to receive any support.
‘I have a debt of Tk 50,000. I borrowed the amount for treatment. I was forced to seek care in a private hospital,’ said Saiful, father of five children.
Since the foundation began its activities, victims and their families have alleged mismanagement, inefficiency and nepotism in fund disbursement.
The foundation, with an operational cost of Tk 3 crore a year coming from the local government, rural development and co-operatives ministry, has run into frauds.
It has identified 39 fraudulent claims of injury and five claims of death. The foundation has already disbursd money in some fraudulent claims and ‘mistakenly’ gave Tk 5,00,000 each twice to five martyr families.
The foundation has said that it has served legal notices on the frauds having made false claims, asking them to return the money.
The government on January 15 notified a list of 834 martyrs, followed by another notification on July 1 with a list of 10 more individuals as martyrs of the uprising.
Kamrun Nahar Sumy 20 July, 2025, 23:54
Sufferings and disappointment of the people wounded in the July uprising deepens on as many of them have yet to receive any or furhter financial help from the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation.
The foundation, launched on September 17, 2024 with an initial amount of Tk 100 crore from the chief adviser’s relief and welfare fund, was meant to support uprising victims.
The foundation has until July 15 disbursed Tk 1,00,000 each to 6,691 wounded individuals in the first phase and Tk 5,00,000 each to 806, out of 852, families, of the martyred.
Out of the 14,541 people registered as wounded with the government, keeping to the foundation, 8,718 have sought help. And, 523 people have also received the second-phase grant.
But many have yet to receive any help. There are 2,027 such victims while the victims who have received the first-phase grant keep struggling to get the grant for the next phase.
Md Rakibul Islam, who has received the first-phase grant, has said, ‘They just don’t care about us.’ Rakibul, who walks with crutches, has visited the foundation seven to eight times.
Rakibul, who lives at Savar, was wounded on August 4, 2024 as a law enforcer’s vehicle ran over him in front of Jahangirnagar University.
He visited the foundation on July 2 with a mind to go on a fast unto death as he has not received the second-phase grant.
‘I have been jobless for a year. I can’t fold the right leg. It is difficult to walk to the foundation repeatedly,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, I don’t have money to pay the fare,’ said Rakibul, father of a three-year-old daughter.
The foundation has told Rakibul, a Category B victim, that he would receive the grant once the amended category list was notified.
The foundation’s chief executive officer Kamal Akbar, a retired colonel, said on July 13 that the foundation did not have enough funds to help all the victims.
‘The initial plan was to manage the funds through the liberation war affairs ministry. But the government has later decided to provide the wounded with monthly allowance.’ he said.
‘We have to make the wounded understand that they would be receiving the money in monthly allowance,’ he said, noting that the foundation, which had about Tk 8 crore on July 12, now has Tk 1.20 crore.
The foundation has decided that Category A victims, who were critically injured and have lost limbs, will get Tk 4,00,000 in grant, Category B victims, who were severely injured but have not lost any limbs, will receive Tk 3,00,000 and Category C victims, who were injured but can work, will receive Tk 2,00,000.
Among the 600 wounded classified in Category A, 220 have yet to get the second-phase grant until July 13.
In the first phase, victims of all categories will receive Tk 1,00,000 and the remaining amount will be given in the second phase.
As for fund shortage, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said that the government has allocated Tk 30,00,000 each for martyr’s family.
The government will provide the injured with a regular allowance and has issued health cards for them to ensure their treatment in public hospitals, he said.
The government is considering rehabilitation of the martyr families who lost their earning members by providing them with jobs, he added. The finance ministry has already allocated funds and designated two areas at Mirpur in Dhaka to build flats for the victims.
The injured, some on crutches, even from outlying areas, meanwhile, keep visiting the foundation repeatedly, hoping to get financial help even to repay treatment-related loans, cover follow-up medical expenses or ensure their daily meals.
About 25 of the injured, some admitted to hospitals in Dhaka, vandalised the foundation’s office on July 8 after they had failed to get the second-phase grant despite being repeatedly promised.
The foundation on July 13 provided 73 of the injured, including some of whom vandalised the office, with the second-phase grant.
Saiful Islam, a carpenter shot in the left leg at Azampur of Uttara in Dhaka on July 19, 2024, who sought help about three months ago and has since visited the foundation six to seven times, has yet to receive any support.
‘I have a debt of Tk 50,000. I borrowed the amount for treatment. I was forced to seek care in a private hospital,’ said Saiful, father of five children.
Since the foundation began its activities, victims and their families have alleged mismanagement, inefficiency and nepotism in fund disbursement.
The foundation, with an operational cost of Tk 3 crore a year coming from the local government, rural development and co-operatives ministry, has run into frauds.
It has identified 39 fraudulent claims of injury and five claims of death. The foundation has already disbursd money in some fraudulent claims and ‘mistakenly’ gave Tk 5,00,000 each twice to five martyr families.
The foundation has said that it has served legal notices on the frauds having made false claims, asking them to return the money.
The government on January 15 notified a list of 834 martyrs, followed by another notification on July 1 with a list of 10 more individuals as martyrs of the uprising.
Saif
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- Jan 24, 2024
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- 15,434
- Nation
- Axis Group
ABU SAYEED MURDER: Charge hearing begins at ICT
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday began hearing charges of crimes against humanity against former Begum Rokeya University vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid Bachchu and 29 others for the murder of Abu Sayeed during the July 2024 uprising.
www.newagebd.net
ABU SAYEED MURDER: Charge hearing begins at ICT
Staff Correspondent 29 July, 2025, 00:27
Abu Sayeed | File photo
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday began hearing charges of crimes against humanity against former Begum Rokeya University vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid Bachchu and 29 others for the murder of Abu Sayeed during the July 2024 uprising.
Abu Sayeed, a student of English at the university, was shot dead near the university gate on July 16, 2024, during the students’ protests against discrimination.
His death sparked nationwide protests that eventually turned into the student-led mass uprising to oust then prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024.
The three-member tribunal of retired High Court judge Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, retired district judge Md Manjurul Basid and judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir adjourned the hearing till today after hearing submissions from chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam.
Four lawyers appointed by the tribunal will defend 24 of the accused who are still in hiding.
The prosecution submitted formal charges against the 30 on July 1.
During the hearing, defence lawyer Azizur Rahman Dulu sought a seven-day adjournment for preparing arguments for his client, constable Sujan Chandra Roy.
The tribunal rejected the request and warned him against delaying the trial. The prosecution told the tribunal that Dulu had repeatedly refused to accept certified copies of documents related to his client and only received them on Monday after being asked.
The tribunal ruled that Dulu might present his arguments only after all other defence submissions.
Six of the accused are currently in custody. They are the university proctor Shariful Islam, staff members Anwar Parvez Appel and Rafiul Hasan Rasel, police sub-inspector Amir Hossain, constable Sujan Chandra Roy and banned Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Imran Chowdhury Akash.
Nine other staff of the university — former vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid Bachchu, associate professors Md Mashiur Rahman and Asaduzzaman Mondol Asad, assistant registrar Md Hafizur Rahman Tufan, section officer Md Moniruzzaman Palash and MLSS Mohammad Nurunnabi Mandal, Nur-e-Alam Mia, Mahabubar Rahman Babu and AKM Amir Hossain Amu — are still in hiding.
Six fugitive police officers members are former Rangpur Metropolitan Police commissioner Md Moniruzzaman Beltu, former deputy commissioner Md Abu Maruf Hossain Titu, former additional deputy commissioner Md Shah Noor Alam Patwari Suman, former assistant commissioner Md Arifuzzaman Jibon, former Tajhat police station officer-in-charge Rabiul Islam Nayan and university police camp in-charge sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy Madhav.
Eight absconding Chhatra League leaders are BRUR unit president Pomel Barua, vice-presidents Fazzle Rabbi alias Glorious Fazle Rabbi and Md Akhtar Hossan, general secretary Md Mahafuzur Rahman Shamim, joint secretary Masudul Hasan Masud, organising secretaries Sejan Ahmed Arif and Dhanojoy Kumar Tagor and office secretary Babul Hossain.
The rest fugitive is Dr Sarowat Hossain Chandan, a forensic expert and member of the pro-Awami League doctors’ association Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, who allegedly falsified the post-mortem report.
Staff Correspondent 29 July, 2025, 00:27
Abu Sayeed | File photo
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday began hearing charges of crimes against humanity against former Begum Rokeya University vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid Bachchu and 29 others for the murder of Abu Sayeed during the July 2024 uprising.
Abu Sayeed, a student of English at the university, was shot dead near the university gate on July 16, 2024, during the students’ protests against discrimination.
His death sparked nationwide protests that eventually turned into the student-led mass uprising to oust then prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024.
The three-member tribunal of retired High Court judge Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, retired district judge Md Manjurul Basid and judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir adjourned the hearing till today after hearing submissions from chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam.
Four lawyers appointed by the tribunal will defend 24 of the accused who are still in hiding.
The prosecution submitted formal charges against the 30 on July 1.
During the hearing, defence lawyer Azizur Rahman Dulu sought a seven-day adjournment for preparing arguments for his client, constable Sujan Chandra Roy.
The tribunal rejected the request and warned him against delaying the trial. The prosecution told the tribunal that Dulu had repeatedly refused to accept certified copies of documents related to his client and only received them on Monday after being asked.
The tribunal ruled that Dulu might present his arguments only after all other defence submissions.
Six of the accused are currently in custody. They are the university proctor Shariful Islam, staff members Anwar Parvez Appel and Rafiul Hasan Rasel, police sub-inspector Amir Hossain, constable Sujan Chandra Roy and banned Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Imran Chowdhury Akash.
Nine other staff of the university — former vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid Bachchu, associate professors Md Mashiur Rahman and Asaduzzaman Mondol Asad, assistant registrar Md Hafizur Rahman Tufan, section officer Md Moniruzzaman Palash and MLSS Mohammad Nurunnabi Mandal, Nur-e-Alam Mia, Mahabubar Rahman Babu and AKM Amir Hossain Amu — are still in hiding.
Six fugitive police officers members are former Rangpur Metropolitan Police commissioner Md Moniruzzaman Beltu, former deputy commissioner Md Abu Maruf Hossain Titu, former additional deputy commissioner Md Shah Noor Alam Patwari Suman, former assistant commissioner Md Arifuzzaman Jibon, former Tajhat police station officer-in-charge Rabiul Islam Nayan and university police camp in-charge sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy Madhav.
Eight absconding Chhatra League leaders are BRUR unit president Pomel Barua, vice-presidents Fazzle Rabbi alias Glorious Fazle Rabbi and Md Akhtar Hossan, general secretary Md Mahafuzur Rahman Shamim, joint secretary Masudul Hasan Masud, organising secretaries Sejan Ahmed Arif and Dhanojoy Kumar Tagor and office secretary Babul Hossain.
The rest fugitive is Dr Sarowat Hossain Chandan, a forensic expert and member of the pro-Awami League doctors’ association Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, who allegedly falsified the post-mortem report.
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