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Witness Md. Rokibul Islam testified before the court that law enforcement personnel surrounded protester Raju Ahmed in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area during the July Mass Uprising before an Ansar member snatched him and shot him, followed by a police officer shooting him in the back.
Rokibul Islam, the cousin of the deceased, presented his deposition on Thursday (August 6) as Witness No. 3 before the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) in a case involving crimes against humanity committed in the Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur areas during the July movement.
The case names 28 individuals as accused, including former minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and former Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.
Recounting the incident of July 19, 2024, Rokibul stated that he and his cousin Raju Ahmed joined the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in Mohammadpur. As police surrounded the crowd, Ansar member Omar Faruk forcibly pulled Raju away from him and shot him in the left leg. Immediately after, another police officer shot Raju on the left side of his back, causing him to collapse.
Rokibul noted that after protesters chased the police away, he rushed Raju to Suhrawardy Hospital, where attending doctors pronounced him dead. Rokibul added that he subsequently secured CCTV footage of the shooting and demanded exemplary punishment for both the shooters and those who gave the orders.
During cross-examination by defense lawyer Abul Hasan, Rokibul acknowledged that he was an "outsider" in that protest. Following the cross-examination, the tribunal addressed Prosecutor Tareq Abdullah, remarking, "No matter how much an eyewitness someone is, if they are incompetent, they will ruin the case."
Later, Witness No. 4, Md. Motiar Rahman, a cousin of the victim, also delivered his deposition. He recalled receiving a phone call around 3:00 PM on July 19, 2024, informing him of the shooting, and later finding Raju's body at Suhrawardy Hospital with gunshot wounds on his left leg and abdomen.
Four of the accused are currently in custody: former Ansar member Mohammad Omar Faruk, Jubo League activist K M Fazle Rabbi, Mohammadpur Chhatra League President Naimul Hasan Russel, and former Vice President Md. Sajjad Hossain. The remaining 24 accused, including Nanak and Taposh, remain absconding.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/national/1f191be8-5825-6140-83e1-d740fbf0d82c