Hefazat Mayhem: Two dead named accused in case filed by police

Police has filed a case against two dead people, named in connection with the mayhem caused by Hefazat-e-Islam in Brahmanbaria.

The case was filed a few days after the accused were shot dead.

The accused are Asadullah Ratin, 16, an SSC exam candidate from Suhilpur union of Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila, and Kamal Mia, 31, a rickshaw driver from Majlishpur union.

Kamal was shot on 27 March in a clash between law enforcement and Hefazat-e-Islam activists in Nandanpur of Brahmanbaria ​​Sadar upazila, and he died at Cumilla Medical College Hospital on the morning of 28 March. Ratin died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on the night of 29 March.

Sub-Inspector (SI) of Brahmanbaria Sadar Model Police Station, Md Sohrab Hossain, filed a case on the night of 31 March in connection with the 27 March violence. Along with 400-500 unidentified people, 21 people were named and made accused in the case. In the case file, Kamal has been named the 10th accused in the case with his age mentioned as 32 years. Ratin has been named the 15th accused with his age given as 25 years old.

However, the plaintiff did not mention the name of the father of either of them in the case file, and only Suhilpur is mentioned in the address. Police have so far arrested 10 people in the case.

According to the case file, police saw three injured people lying on the road after Hefazat-e-Islam activists, locals, and police clashed on 27 March. They were later taken to hospital for treatment.

Hosna Begum, Kamal's mother, said, "Kamal left the house after someone called him on the afternoon of 27 March. Kamal was reportedly shot after Maghrib prayers. When I went to Brahmanbaria Medical College Hospital, another injured person said the police had taken Kamal to Cumilla. The next day, on the morning of 28 March, Kamal died at Cumilla Medical College Hospital. We buried Kamal in the village cemetery on the night of 29 March."

Ratin's father Shafiqul Islam said, "Ratin went to fetch medicine for his mother on 27 March at around 4.30 pm and never returned home. I heard Ratin was shot in Suhilpur and the police had taken him to Cumilla. Later, we took Ratin to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he died at 12:55 am on 29 March. They performed an autopsy on Ratin's body there, but we were not given any autopsy documents."

Asked why the dead were named accused in the case, plaintiff SI Md Sohrab Hossain said, "I saw the incident on 27 March. They were present at the scene then and may have died later."

The case investigating officer, Sadar Police SI Md Jahangir Alam, said, "I went to Suhilpur to investigate the case and heard from locals that one accused named Ratin had died in the clash. The plaintiff named the accused in the file and if someone is dead, then their name will be removed from the charge sheet."

Activists and supporters of Hefazat-e-Islam staged a massive protest in Brahmanbaria from March 26 to 28 against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh. They attacked, vandalized, and set fire to several public and private establishments. At least 11 people were killed in three days of clashes with law enforcement agencies. A total of 55 cases have been filed with 414 named accused and more than 35,000 unnamed accused. As of Monday (26 April), police have arrested 369 people.