A teenage
boy named Shihab Uddin from Companyganj in Sylhet was injured in a motorcycle
accident during the final phase of the 2024 mass uprising. His body sustained
cuts and injuries. However, this accident was later falsely portrayed in court
as a shooting incident in the anti-discrimination student movement, leading to
an attempted murder case against at least 32 people.
A detailed
investigation by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has uncovered the
full extent of this fabricated case. The PBI has already submitted its report
to the court, exposing the case as false, according to investigators involved
in the probe. They said the case was filed to frame rival groups.
Such
fabricated cases are not isolated. A large number of cases were also filed over
violence during the July uprising, with an unusually high number of accused.
The PBI has completed investigations into 129 such cases and submitted charge
sheets to the court. Out of 9,865 accused in these cases, 6,089 were found innocent
and discharged.
This means
allegations against around 62 percent of the accused were not substantiated. In
25 cases, investigators found the entire allegations to be false and submitted
final reports to the court, clearing all accused persons. Documents reviewed by
Agamir Shomoy revealed these alarming findings.
Parul
Khatun, a resident of Uttara in Dhaka, filed a case accusing 400 people after
claiming that her son, Kawser Mia, was shot dead and his body was secretly
disposed of during a student-public protest at Azampur bus stand in Uttara
during the July movement.
However,
Kawser Mia was later arrested by police on June 2 last year in a separate case
involving preparation for robbery. After finding no evidence supporting Parul
Khatun’s claims, the PBI concluded that the murder and disappearance case was
also fabricated and submitted a final report to the court.
Investigators
said that during the anti-discrimination student movement, hundreds of people
were routinely named as accused in cases involving clashes, violence, murder,
attacks, and vandalism without proper scrutiny. Later investigations found no
clear evidence or factual basis against many of them.
Legal
experts say many cases filed over the 2024 mass movement violence have become
questionable. Allegations have been raised that, individuals with no
involvement in the incidents were also named as accused, raising serious doubts
about the credibility of these cases.
They warn
that the biggest victims of such flawed and controversial cases will ultimately
be genuine victims and their families, as justice may be obstructed by flawed
legal processes.
PBI Chief
and Additional Inspector General of Police Mostafa Kamal also confirmed similar
findings. He said most cases filed over the anti-discrimination student
movement have already been investigated. However, medical certificates (MCs)
are still pending in a few cases, which are being collected. He added that only
a few investigations remain pending and final reports will soon be submitted to
the court.
PBI Chief
Mostafa Kamal said investigations have proven that innocent individuals were
named as accused in many cases. He stated that in some instances, people with
no involvement in the incidents were included in case documents. “Reports have
been submitted to the court recommending the discharge of innocent individuals
from such fabricated cases,” he said.
Citing
examples of fabricated cases, the PBI chief said, “In a case filed over an
incident in Narayanganj, residents of Hatiya, Sandwip, and even Panchagarh were
made accused, despite never having visited Dhaka in their lives. Investigations
found such inconsistencies, and in many cases, innocent names have been removed.”
He also
referred to another incident, saying that in a case related to violence during
the anti-discrimination student movement, the mother of an injured victim was
named as an accused, along with several members of her family.
Later
investigations revealed that the victim’s parents had divorced, and due to a
family dispute, the father had included those names in the case without the
son’s knowledge. The final report was later submitted after removing those
names.
Across the
country, numerous cases were filed in courts and police stations over the 2024
mass movement, involving charges of murder, attempted murder, torture, attacks,
and vandalism. Of these, PBI is investigating 270 cases, 193 filed in magistrate
courts (CR cases) and 77 filed at police stations (GR cases).
Investigations
by Agamir Shomoy show that out of the 193 court cases, allegations have
been proven in 92 cases. A total of 8,961 people were named as accused in these
cases. Of them, 3,209 were found guilty and included in charge sheets, while
5,752 were cleared due to lack of evidence. This means 64.18 percent of the
accused in these cases were found innocent or not linked to the allegations.
Among the remaining 54 cases, 25 were found unproven, with 14 deemed false and
5 considered true but not substantiated.
In the cases
filed at police stations, PBI reviewed 77 cases and submitted reports to court
in 37 of them for disposal. A total of 904 people were accused in these cases.
Investigations found evidence against 567 individuals, while 337 were not
linked to the allegations and were recommended for discharge. This means 37.28
percent of the accused in police station cases were found innocent, while 62.72
percent were initially found guilty.
Overall,
combining GR and CR cases, 9,865 people were accused. Of them, 6,089 were found
innocent during investigations, meaning allegations against 61.72 percent of
the accused were not substantiated. The investigation agency removed their
names and submitted charge sheets to the court.
On August 4,
2024, at around 3 pm, an attempted murder case was filed in a court over
allegations that a teenager named Shihab Uddin was shot during a student-public
protest in front of the Companyganj Upazila Parishad gate in Sylhet. Fatema
Akter Parul filed the case on behalf of Shihab, naming 17 accused and listing
another 20 unidentified individuals before the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s
Court in Sylhet. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) took charge of the
investigation on December 30 of that year.
A review of
the final report and related investigation findings shows that Shihab Uddin had
participated in various programs of the anti-discrimination student movement at
different times. Two days before the mass uprising, on August 3, he and his
associates joined a rally in front of the Companyganj Upazila Parishad gate.
The following day, as students and the public passed the same gate in a
procession, clashes broke out with the police.
On August 5,
students and the public gathered again in front of the parishad gate for a
victory procession. Shihab was seen there wearing a red T-shirt. A few days
later, he also appeared in another procession demanding the resignation of the
principal of Tuker Bazar Shahid Smriti School and College, where he was seen
wearing a black half-sleeve T-shirt.
Investigators
noted that if Shihab had been shot on August 4, he could not have been seen
actively participating at the front of processions on August 5 and August 11.
However, video footage shows him standing at the front of the protest banners
on those days.
Investigators
found that Shihab was not shot at all. Instead, he was injured in a motorcycle
accident. They said the incident was later used to file a fabricated attempted
murder case against rivals. On August 4, his red Apache 4V motorcycle collided
head-on with a three-wheeler (nosimon). The impact caused a rod injury to his
left thigh, while he also sustained injuries to his right elbow and knee after
falling on the road.
Investigators
said Fatema Akter Parul’s uncle, Yakub Ali, is a local Awami League leader who
faces multiple cases linked to violence during the anti-discrimination student
movement. To target complainants in those cases, Shihab’s motorcycle accident
was allegedly exploited. The injury was falsely presented as a gunshot wound,
and an attempted murder case was filed in court.
Shihab, the
grandson of Yakub Ali, was thus shown as a gunshot victim in a fabricated case
that investigators say stemmed from a motorcycle accident.
Meanwhile,
Mahmudul Hasan Robin, a student of Dhaka Aliya Madrasa, lost sight in his right
eye during the July mass uprising. His father, Abdul Karim, a house painter,
filed a case at Kadamtali Police Station in the capital over the incident.
In the case
filed on August 31, 2024, 33 people were named as accused. During the
investigation, the officer identified 18 individuals as involved in the
incident, including one person whose name was not in the original FIR and was
later added in the charge sheet. However, investigators found no evidence
linking 16 of the named accused to the incident.
Investigation
officer Sub-Inspector Md. Emdadul Haque of Kadamtali Police Station shared his
experience with Agamir Shomoy. He said investigators have included only
those accused against whom evidence of involvement in the incident was found in
the charge sheet, while the rest were recommended for discharge.
Although
investigators found the involvement of 18 individuals in the case related to
Robin’s shooting, hundreds were initially named as accused. Speaking about the
matter, Robin’s father Abdul Karim said the situation was misused and several
names were included in the FIR without his knowledge.
“I have
heard that charge sheets have been filed against 18 people based on the PBI
investigation. My son was shot at the time. I was in a state of panic and
confusion. Those who helped file the case included several names in the FIR
without my knowledge,” he said.
The PBI said
that among the 92 cases where allegations were proven, 10 were murder cases,
while the remaining 82 were filed under other laws. It found 25 cases to be
unproven, including six where the victims could not be traced. In 14 cases, the
allegations were entirely fabricated. In four cases, investigators found no
evidence due to lack of cooperation from the complainants and insufficient
witness testimony. In one case, the complaint was allegedly filed under
coercion.
Against this
backdrop, legal experts have expressed concern over whether genuine victims
will receive justice. Human rights organisation Human Rights and Peace for
Bangladesh (HRPB) President Manzill Murshid said many cases linked to the
anti-discrimination student movement are now under question.
He told Agamir
Shomoy that individuals with no involvement in the incidents were also
named as accused, weakening the credibility of these cases and making it
difficult to prove charges in court.
“If
individuals are implicated in murder cases without credible evidence, such
cases will not stand in court. The biggest victims will be the actual victims
and their families, as the justice they expected may ultimately remain out of
reach,” the senior Supreme Court lawyer added.
