Hadi murder: Witness rickshaw driver Kamal testifies in court

Md Kamal Hossain, the battery-run rickshaw driver who was carrying Sharif Osman Hadi on the day he was shot, has given testimony in court in connection with the case filed over the killing of the Inqilab Mancha spokesperson.

Following an application by the investigating officer, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jamsed Alam recorded Kamal's statement today (25 December).

Earlier in the day, Kamal appeared before the court and voluntarily expressed his willingness to testify as a witness. Subsequently, the investigation officer of the case, Detective Branch (DB) Inspector Faisal Ahmed, submitted an application seeking to record his statement.

The application stated that Sharif Osman Hadi was shot while travelling in Kamal Hossain's auto-rickshaw from Khalil Hotel in Motijheel towards Suhrawardy Udyan. As an eyewitness to the incident, Kamal was willing to give his statement voluntarily before the court. For the sake of a proper investigation, it was deemed necessary to record his testimony under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

According to the case statement, Sharif Osman Hadi had been serving as the spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha, a political and cultural platform formed in the post-uprising period. On 12 December at around 2:20pm, miscreants riding a motorcycle shot him in the Box Culvert Road area under Paltan Model Police Station before fleeing the scene. 

Hadi sustained critical gunshot wounds to his head. He was first taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and later shifted to Evercare Hospital for treatment. As his condition deteriorated, he was airlifted to Singapore for advanced medical care on 15 December. He died while undergoing treatment there on 18 December, a week after the attack. 

Following the incident, Inqilab Mancha Member Secretary Abdullah Al Jaber filed a case with Paltan Police Station on 14 December, initially as an attempted murder case. After Hadi's death, the case was converted into a murder case.