Published : 04 Oct 2026, 03:00 PM
Updated : 04 Oct 2026, 03:00 PM
Former chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has been formally arrested in a murder case while awaiting release from jail after securing bail in another case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashraful Haque issued the order on Sunday in the case over the killing of garment worker Rubel in the capital's Adabor during the July 2024 mass uprising, according to prosecution police Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman.
Awal had been in jail since his arrest on Jun 25 last year in a case filed by the BNP alleging sedition and the holding of elections "without people's votes".
A court placed him on three days' remand the following day.
He secured bail from the High Court in that case on Sept 9 and had been awaiting release when investigators sought to have him arrested in the Rubel murder case.
Detective Branch Inspector Mohammad Tipu Sultan, the investigating officer, filed the application on Sept 28. The court subsequently set Sunday for a hearing in Awal's presence.
Awal was brought before the court, where prosecutor Shamsud Doha Sumon argued in favour of the application and defence lawyer Tapas Chandra Das opposed it.
The court granted the application and sent Awal back to jail.
"He had one case against him and secured bail from the High Court in that case," Tapas said.
"After the bail order was submitted, an application was filed to have him arrested in this case. The court today ordered that he be shown arrested in the case."
According to the case statement, several hundred students and members of the public, including Rubel, brought out a protest procession in the Ring Road area of Adabor on Aug 5, 2024, the final day of the July Uprising.
The case alleges that police and leaders and activists of the Awami League and several of its affiliated organisations opened fire on the protesters, leaving Rubel with gunshot wounds.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Rubel's father, Rafiqul Islam, filed the case with Adabor Police Station on Aug 22, 2024.
