Rampura-Banasree crackdown part of 'state policy' to suppress July Uprising: ICT
Three former police officials sentenced to death over killings and attacks during the 2024 July Uprising; tribunal says protesters were unarmed.
Highlights:
- Tribunal holds three senior officers responsible for two killings and two attempted killings.
- Three former senior police officials sentenced to death in crimes against humanity case.
- Verdict says protesters were unarmed and police were instructed to use 'maximum force.'
The attacks on unarmed protesters in the capital's Rampura and Banasree during the 2024 July Uprising were part of a large-scale and systematic assault on civilians carried out under a state policy to suppress the movement, according to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The observation was made in the 147-page full verdict, published today (16 July), in the crimes against humanity case over the Rampura-Banasree violence.
On 28 June, the ICT-1 bench headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder delivered the verdict, sentencing former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional deputy commissioner (Khilgaon Zone) Md Rashedul Islam, and former Rampura Police Station officer-in-charge Md Mashiur Rahman to death.
Among other accused, former Rampura police sub-inspector Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan was sentenced to life imprisonment, while former assistant sub-inspector at Rampura Police Outpost Chanchal Chandra Sarkar received 20 years in prison.
According to the verdict, the attacks in Rampura and Banasree formed part of a broader nationwide operation in which law enforcers used lethal force following instructions to apply "maximum force" against protesters.
The tribunal also said the incidents were part of a widespread and organised attack on civilians "carried out by state forces" alongside members of the then-ruling Awami League and its affiliated organisations.
The verdict identified Mashiur, then officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station, as the officer who led the operation in the Rampura-Banasree area.
It said Md Nadim Hossain and Maya Islam were killed, while Amir Hossain and Basit Khan Musa sustained critical injuries during the attacks.
According to the tribunal, on 19 July 2024, police shot Amir while he was hanging from the ledge of an under-construction building in Rampura, leaving him critically injured.
The verdict mentioned that Maya and her seven-year-old grandson Basit, were also shot the same day inside the collapsible gate of their house in Banasree. Maya later died, while Basit survived with serious injuries.
Nadim was also killed in police firing in Rampura on the same day, the tribunal said.
The tribunal found that the prosecution had proved the protesting students and other civilians were unarmed.
According to the verdict, Habibur, then DMP commissioner, instructed officers under his command through wireless messages not to hesitate to use maximum force against protesters.
It said police later shot Nadim dead in front of Banasree Mosque after Friday prayers on 19 July.
The tribunal further found that Tarikul and Chanchal shot Amir while he was hanging from iron rods on the ledge of the under-construction building.
The tribunal held Habibur, Rashedul and Mashiur responsible for the killings of Nadim and Maya, as well as for the serious injuries suffered by Basit and Amir.
It said each of the three charges against the three senior officers warranted the maximum punishment given the gravity of the crimes, but imposed a single consolidated death sentence on each.
The verdict noted that Tarikul and Chanchal were lower-ranking officers and that Amir survived the shooting. It said these factors justified comparatively lighter sentences.
