BUET student murder: Court sets Jan 30 for indictment hearing

A Dhaka court has set Jan 30 to hold a hearing on the indictment of the 25 suspects in the murder of BUET student Abrar Fahad.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes fixed the hearing date on Tuesday after accepting the charge sheet submitted by the police.

The case is likely to be forwarded to a speedy trial tribunal in Dhaka after the framing of charges, said Abdullah Abu, chief prosecutor of Dhaka Metropolitan Judge’s Court.

Among the accused, 22 are currently being held in jail and were produced in court when the charges were presented, said Additional Public Prosecutor Tapas Kumar Pal. Three others are absconding.

Abrar, a second-year student of electrical and electronic engineering, was found dead in the stairway of his dormitory in the early hours of Oct 6.

He was allegedly bludgeoned to death by members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League’s BUET unit for a post he made to Facebook criticising the government for a deal it made with India.

Abrar's father Barkatullah started a case with the capital's Chawkbazar police against 19 people. Police later arrested 22 people, including 16 named in the case.

Detective Inspector Wahiduzzaman submitted the charges to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court against 25 suspects on Nov 13 after five weeks of investigation.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court also issued an arrest warrant against four absconding suspects. One of them later surrendered to the court.