Dhaka: As many as 1,730 cases, including 731 murder cases, have been filed nationwide, implicating top leaders of the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's regime and her Awami League (now banned) in attempts to quell the July Uprising through the use of brutal force, police reported today. "We are investigating the cases very cautiously. We are working to complete the investigation into the cases in a fair manner to ensure punishment of the perpetrators," Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam stated to BSS, coinciding with the first anniversary of the uprising.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the police chief emphasized the significance of the July uprising cases. He noted that many senior AL leaders and cabinet members of the ousted regime, including the deposed premier and the party president, former road transport minister and party's general secretary Obaidul Quader, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, were implicated in several of the cases. Alam further highlighted that the police are not rushing the investigations to prevent perpetrators from evading justice.
"There is a huge number of murder cases linked to the July Uprising. So, it will take time as police have been attaching priority on completing investigations into every one of those cases in a fair manner," he said. However, Alam expressed optimism that investigations into a significant number of cases would be concluded by August next year, with the Police Headquarters closely monitoring the cases' progress.
The IGP revealed that charge sheets in 15 cases related to the July Uprising, including five murder cases, have been submitted to the courts. Sherpur police submitted charge sheets in three murder cases, while Kurigram police and Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) have done so in two cases each. Moreover, of the 10 cases filed under other sections of the Penal Code, submissions were made by various police departments across the country.
Senior police officers are overseeing the cases to ensure proper investigation of those filed during the mass uprising of students and the public. Currently, many top AL leaders and cabinet members are incarcerated due to the July uprising cases.
The UN fact-finding committee reported that approximately 1,400 people were killed during the anti-discrimination student movement between July 15 and August 15 last year, while the interim government stated that around 20,000 others sustained injuries during the uprising.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) has received 450 complaints involving serious crimes, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances allegedly conducted under the previous government during the July-August mass uprising. ICT-BD Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam informed BSS that probe reports in four of these cases, including one against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two other high-profile accused, have been submitted.
Charges have been formally framed in two cases, and ICT-1 has begun recording depositions of prosecution witnesses in the case against the deposed premier, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. The chief prosecutor stated that 30 miscellaneous cases involving 209 individuals have been filed, with 84 accused already arrested. He emphasized the determination to hold the masterminds and direct perpetrators accountable.
Islam mentioned that the prosecution has recorded statements from over 1,000 witnesses and collected extensive digital evidence, including more than 1,000 video clips, to support the charges. Hasina, along with former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, is currently on trial at the ICT as a principal architect of what prosecutors describe as crimes against humanity during the July Uprising.