A murder case was filed against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday in connection with the death of a college student during quota reform protests, bringing to an increasing list of cases filed against her following her ouster from power.
A case was filed with Chandgaon police station, also implicating former education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Nowfel and 32 others, including several leaders of the ruling Awami League, reported bdnews24.com. Also named as accused are 40 to 50 unidentified people.
It is the seventh case against Hasina, who was forced to quit on August 5 following street protests by hundreds of thousands of people. The 76-year-old former prime minister escaped to India on August 5 after being compelled to resign due to a far-reaching student protest against the government quota system in jobs.
Charges were brought early Saturday morning at Chandgaon Police Station by Mohammad Parvez, an uncle of the deceased student Tanvir Siddiqui, station chief Jahedul Kabir said. The case statement alleges Tanvir, a student of Government Ashekane Awlia Degree College, was participating in the "shutdown" called by Anti-discrimination Student Movement on August 18. At the protest at Bahaddarhat kitchen market, unidentified attackers threw bricks and stones and indiscriminate gunfire followed, reportedly "upon orders and directions" of Hasina and Nowfel. Tanvir was shot, brought to the hospital, and declared dead.
The same incident also left two others dead, including a Chattogram University student, according to the report.
Five more cases have been filed against Hasina in Dhaka in the last four days, of which four are murder cases and the fifth involves allegations of abduction and torture. Case filed for killing Selim Hossain implicating Hasina, 99 others On Friday, a case was filed with the Bogura Sadar Police Station regarding the killing of 35-year-old Selim Hossain, implicating Awami League President Hasina and 99 other leaders and activists of the party. Selim Hossain was reportedly killed on August 4 after he attended a student movement in Bogura's Satmatha area where Awami League members attacked protesters with orders from Hasina and Quader.
Former MP and ex-water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen was arrested and jailed on Saturday in connection with an attack on students during the July 16 protests. The order was issued by the Thakurgaon Chief Judicial Magistrate Court following a time when Sen was brought before the court.
Sen, who is leader of the various subcommittees of the Awami League, a former Minister of Water Resources from 2009 to 2014, and the latest high-profile figure to face legal action since the fall of Hasina's government, has been charged.
Since the anti-quota protests began in mid-July, more than 230 people have already been killed in related violence across Bangladesh. This brings the total death toll to 560. On Wednesday, the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh launched an investigation against Hasina and nine others on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity over the student movement against her government.
The probe by the tribunal comes just a day after a case was filed against Hasina, general secretary of Awami League Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and other top-ranked officials of the party on Wednesday. A group of experts from the UN is expected to visit Bangladesh next week over the killing of protesters during and after the resignation of Hasina as the prime minister.
After the fall of Hasina's government, a caretaker government was formed with 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as its Chief Adviser.
Read also| UN Report Reveals Almost 650 Deaths Amid Recent Violence in Bangladesh
Read also| Australian Hindus Advocate for Bangladeshi Hindu Rights, Call for International Response
