Pabna: Police have filed a charge sheet against 136 leaders and activists of the local Awami League (AL) in connection with the killing of two students during last year's mass uprising in the district town.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Officer-in-Charge (Ops) of Pabna Sadar Thana and Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, Sanjoy Kumar Saha, submitted the charge sheet to the court on Tuesday night. The charge sheet was confirmed by court and police officials today.
The IO reported that 35 of the accused have been arrested, while the remaining suspects have been on the run since the incident. Advocate Golam Sarwar Khan Juwel, Public Prosecutor (PP) of Pabna District and Sessions Judge Court, confirmed that initially 103 individuals were charged, including former Sadar constituency lawmaker Golam Faruk Prince and former Bharara union council chairman and Sadar upazila AL organizing secretary Abu Sayeed. Additionally, one of the accused has passed away, while investigations revealed the involvement of 34 more individuals.
According to police sources, the victims Zahidul Islam, 18, a student of Pabna Polytechnic Institute, and Mahbub Hossain Niloy, 16, a class nine student of Siddiq Memorial School, were shot dead at a traffic intersection in the town on August 4 last year. The incident occurred during an anti-government student movement.
Zahidul Islam, hailing from Char Bolorampur village under Sadar upazila, and Niloy, from Hajirhat Betepara village, joined the movement and were killed in an attack allegedly orchestrated by Abu Sayeed and others. Md Dulal Uddin, Zahidul's father, filed a case on August 10 last year against the local Awami League leaders and activists.