Faiyaz first to be discharged under amended criminal code
“This is the first time in the country that anyone has been discharged from a pending investigation case under the new law,” said Main Uddin Chowdhury, additional deputy commissioner of the DMP’s Prosecution Division.
A Dhaka court has discharged Hasnatul Islam Faiyaz, 18, from a police murder case under Section 173(A) of the recently amended Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows the release of an accused if no involvement of them is found at the primary stage of an investigation.
Faiyaz, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, is the first instance of such a discharge based on an interim investigation report.
The section of the amended CrPC allows the police commissioner, a superintendent of police, or any officer of equivalent rank to direct the submission of an interim report to a magistrate. If the magistrate is satisfied, they may discharge individuals from the case at the pre-trial stage if no evidence is found against them.
Faiyaz was released after the Detective Branch (Wari Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police submitted the interim investigation report on 13 July seeking his discharge from the case filed with Jatrabari Police Station.
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Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate GM Farhan Ishtiaque accepted the report on Tuesday (15 July) and discharged Faiyaz from the case.
The decision came just five days after the promulgation of the amended ordinance on 10 July.
"This is the first time in the country that anyone has been discharged from a pending investigation case under the new law," said Main Uddin Chowdhury, additional deputy commissioner of the DMP's Prosecution Division.
The investigating officer, Inspector Mollah Md Khalid Hossain of the Detective (Wari) Division, stated in the interim report that no involvement of Faiyaz was found in the incident.
Since completing the full investigation would take time, the report was submitted under Section 173(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
The interim report noted that investigation activities, including witness interviews, analysis of digital evidence, and forensic testing, were ongoing and time-consuming.
It also mentioned that Faiyaz, declared a child by the court, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"If he were to be discharged only after the final investigation, despite no evidence of involvement, the child would be deprived of his rights," the report stated, adding that his mental health and education should be protected.
According to the report, the case relates to a violent incident on 19 July last year at Rayerbag in Jatrabari, where a police member, Gias Uddin, was killed during a clash between police and demonstrators linked to the anti-quota movement.
It stated that several activists from BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the anti-quota movement were among those accused, and the area was reportedly occupied by members of Awami League and its associated organisations during the incident.
Faiyaz, listed as Accused number 16 in the case's first information report (FIR), was among eight people arrested.
According to the report, evidence obtained at the initial stage did not indicate his involvement.
Faiyaz was picked up from his home in Matuail by plainclothes men on the night of 24 July last year. He was later shown arrested and placed on a seven-day remand by the court.
Following public criticism, the High Court cancelled the remand and ordered that he be sent to a child development centre.
