Hadi murder: Hearing on chargesheet acceptance on Thursday

A Dhaka court has fixed Thursday (15 January) for a hearing on the acceptance of charges submitted in the murder case of Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman bin Hadi.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam today (12 January) set the date after the plaintiff sought more time to review the chargesheet filed by the Detective Branch (DB) of police.

Abdullah Al Jaber, member secretary of Inqilab Mancha, the plaintiff, appeared in court this morning and applied for two more days to examine the charges. 

The court allowed the petition and scheduled the hearing on the chargesheet's acceptance for 15 January.

Plaintiff's lawyer Mostafizur Rahman Mukul said three lawyers have now been appointed on behalf of the plaintiff.

"We sought time to study the chargesheet submitted by the DB. After the hearing, the court fixed next Thursday for the hearing on whether the chargesheet will be accepted," he added.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the plaintiff's lawyer said, "Sharif Osman Hadi used to say that justice should be ensured even for one's enemies. Keeping that principle in mind, we want to study the chargesheet thoroughly so that no innocent person is punished."

Plaintiff Abdullah Al Jaber said they have taken two days' time and will decide on 15 January whether to raise any objections to the chargesheet.

Earlier, on 6 January, DB Inspector Faisal Ahmed, the investigating officer of the case, pressed charges against 17 people.

Among the main accused named in the chargesheet are Faisal Karim Masud alias Daud, his associate Alamgir Hossain, Dhaka Metropolitan North Jubo League Organising Secretary and former ward councillor Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi, Philip Snal Philips, Mukti Akter, and Faisal's sister Jasmine Akter. They are currently absconding.

The remaining 11 accused are in custody. They include Faisal Karim Masud's father Md Humayun Kabir, mother Mst Hasi Begum, wife Saheda Parvin Samia, friend Maria Akter Lima, brother-in-law Wahid Ahmed Shipu, rent-a-car businessman Mufti Md Nuruzzaman Nomani alias Ujjwal, close associate Md Kabir, Sibion Dew, Sanjoy Chisim, Md Aminul Islam alias Raju, and Md Faisal, who was arrested with weapons in Narsingdi.

The investigating officer has also sought arrest warrants against the six absconding accused.

According to the case statement, Sharif Osman Hadi formed the political-cultural platform Inqilab Mancha in the post-July Uprising period and served as its spokesperson. On 12 December at around 2:20pm, assailants on a motorcycle shot him in the Box Culvert Road area of Paltan, leaving him critically injured with bullet wounds to the head and below his right ear.

He was initially taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and later to Evercare Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was flown to Singapore by air ambulance on 15 December for advanced treatment. 

He died on 18 December while undergoing treatment there.

Abdullah Al Jaber had filed a case at Paltan police station on 14 December on charges of attempted murder, which was later converted into a murder case after Osman Hadi's death.