Menon, Palak, Atiqul now arrested in another July Uprising murder case

Four people, including former state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and former Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam, have been shown arrested in a case filed with Banani Police Station over a murder during the July Uprising.

The other two accused are Bangladesh Workers Party President and former minister Rashed Khan Menon, and former Textiles and Jute minister and Gazi Group chairman Ghulam Dastagir Gazi.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sadekur Rahman granted police's plea to show the four arrested in the case today (8 October), confirmed Public prosecutor Md Shamsuddoha Suman.

Earlier in the morning, the accused were brought to court from prison. The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md Yasir Arafat of Banani Police Station, submitted a petition to show them arrested in the case. When produced before the court, all of them were seen wearing helmets and bulletproof vests.

According to the case statement, during the protests of Students Against Discrimination on 19 July last year, a factory worker named Md Shahjahan joined a peaceful rally under the Mohakhali flyover in Banani. At that time, armed activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations allegedly opened fire on the procession using both local and automatic weapons. Shahjahan sustained two bullet wounds to his chest and abdomen and died four days later while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

On 18 December, the victim's mother, Sajeda Begum, filed a murder case with Banani Police Station, naming 97 accused individuals, including the four high-profile political figures.