Not a single case over Hifazat mayhem in Dhaka being tried, two years on

Even two years after the Hifazat-e Islam’s violent siege, police are yet to complete their investigations into at least 36 cases filed over the mayhem.

An officer has even forgotten whether any case had been filed with his station.

Police are the plaintiffs of most of the cases related to the 2013 incident.

Officers said trials were awaiting investigation reports.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesman SM Jahangir Alam Sarker told bdnews24.com on Monday that the cases had been filed with several charges including arson attacks and vandalism.

They were lodged at the Kotwali Police Station, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, Paltan Police Station, Ramna Police Station, Shahbagh Police Station, Jatrabarhi Police Station, Motijheel Police Station and Mirpur Police Station.

He said investigations into some of them the cases were almost at the final stages.

The delay had been caused by inadequate evidence and video footage, he said.

“The reports will be filed very soon,” Sarker said.

Jatrabarhi Police Station OC Abani Shankar said investigations into three cases were under way.

However, Mirpur Police Station OC Mohammad Salahuddin could not remember if any case had been filed with his station.

“I can’t remember whether any case was filed with my station,” he told bdnews24.com.

Key business hub Motijheel and Paltan turned into a battlefield on May 5, 2013 because of the Chittagong-based radical outfit Hifazat-e Islam rally against the movement of the Ganajagaran Mancha. 

Clashes erupted in some other areas, too.

The government said 11, including three passers-by and a policeman, were killed in the day-long clashes.

Leaders of Hifazat, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami claimed over 1,000 people were killed but could not prove their claim.

Hifazat-e Islam activists vandalised and torched a number of shops and vehicles in Motijheel and Paltan areas from noon to night that day.

They cut down trees along the streets and uprooted road dividers. The government said the siege caused Tk 30 million of damage.

The Shah Ahmad Shafi-led organisation hit the streets for a 13-point demand.

Earlier, it gave an ultimatum to stop the Ganajagaran Mancha movement at Shahbagh that demanded trial of war criminals.

Hifazat-e Islam announced a sit-in at Motijheel until their demands were met, putting, establishments in Dhaka’s commercial district, including Bangladesh Bank, at risk.

A joint force of police, Border Guard Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion flushed out the Hifazat activists later in the night.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had said the siege was a bid to topple the government.